Defending Big D: FanPosts

Season Re-Cap

2010-03-22T05:53:32Z

As i'm sure a lot of Stars fans are right now, I need to find some good in the season so kind of re-capping the downs, and downs of the seasons I hope to find some positives.

This has been 2 years of Stars hockey I wont soon forget, and for almost no good reasons. Avery, Turco, Morrow(Injury and pre-olympic performance), Daley/Niksy, Defense in general, Crawford, Hull...the list goes on of things I would choose to forget about if I could. However, I believe there is some good to look forward to, and I want your opinion as to what you think of the future and where things lie, cap issues and short-comings aside for once.

Up front is clearly the my most promising thing about this team, by far. Richards, Morrow, Ribs, are all in their prime and look fantastic right now and provide an exceptional veteran presence to a very young core of talent. Ott was just rewarded with a big contract with maybe a lot of questions attached to it, but I think he has responded appropriately since inking the new deal providing 4 goals and 6 points(Not exceptional, but he has been better than his numbers show in my opinion), and the gritty team motivating performance he has been known for. Neal, Benn, Eriksson just keep getting better all 3 could be 30 goal scorers next season. Wandell, Seagal, Petersen breed hope that this team has more than sufficient depth going forward. Really maybe the only concerns I have are maybe 1 more checking line veteran presence that can win key FACEOFFS!!!

Defense...UHG! where to even start, I am just gonna leave out all of the negatives and want to talk about what is good. Robidas obviously the veteran cog that keeps this blueline together somehow...I don't know if anyone will ever figure out exactly how he does it. Grossman and Fistric are just fantastic, if they can take another step next season maybe this team will be better than anyone will be expecting, but it may be to much to ask to rely on the youngters to carry the blueline. 6 points for Daley in March...improvement is about all you can say, which is better than nothing. Considering he has had 2 point months this season I can only hope maybe he is finally ready to progress some when he is not being forced to be a key component. I do not really have much to say about Nisky, maybe someone on here has some positive things to contribute but I do not. Woywitka is a very serviceable depth guy who is still young and has room to grow I think he is worth keeping around. Skrastins seems to have taken a step back, however his veteran presence and shot blocking are important and I believe in the budget he has very good dollar for dollar value.

Goalie- before the Olympics I thought it would be a long haul before I would be able to say this, and it is still very early to be saying it. I feel very comfortable with Kari in house to take the reigns, obviously he is always 1 groin tweak, or pulled disc away from changing that in a heartbeat. But I believe this is a huge step knowing we have someone who when healthy has a ton of talent and has hopefully matured and gained a solid work ethic to go along with the talent. However a veteran backup will be vital, you look back on the seasons past and this franchises goaltenders are most successful when there is someone pushing the starter. I think relying on Kari to play more than 55-60 games next season would be a massive mis-calculation, all the successful teams nowadays that do not have a franchise goalie have for the most part a 2nd goalie who can come in and play and not worry the team/coach about weather or not he gives them a chance to win.

So those are my thoughts going forward, I am optimistic this team can succeed soon and I feel a lot of the right pieces are already in place, and Joe just needs to find the right compliments to what he already has. Personally I think aside from Nisky, Brunner(who are RFA's anyways) everybody has earned a spot on this team going forward. I do however understand a key missing component is a top notch d-man who can QB a PP, but i'm trying to think positives so give me a but of a break lol.

Video Highlights: Senators @ Stars: 3/20/2010

2010-03-21T04:28:15Z

Editors Note: TracyJean has been YouTubing and analyzing highlights of recent Stars games in the FanPosts. I don't know about you all, but I much enjoy the Ralph and Razor versions to what is sometimes on the NHL site. Thanks to Tracy for doing this. -BG

As Marc Crawford put it during his postgame press conference, this probably wasn't the Stars best effort on this homestand (they still seemed to be half asleep until the second period), but it was good enough for a 5-4 win (helped by some poor goaltending by Pascal Leclaire). 11 different Stars played a part in the five goals that the Stars scored.

On the business end of one of those passes that's just perfect...

The Senators were up 1-0 when the Stars went on their first power play of the game, which turned into a 5-on-3 after 1:07. Just one second after the first penalty expired, Brad Richards scored off a pass from Stephane Robidas for his 20th goal of the year, giving Richards seven 20-goal seasons and the current NHL lead in power play points.

Highlights after the jump...

Ribeiro snuck in, Barch found him...

With the game tied 1-1 late in the first, Krys Barch picked up the puck behind the Senators net, unmolested by the Senators' defense. He passed to Mike Ribeiro in front of the crease, who put it in the net to put the Stars up 2-1.

They stayed hungry on that one...

After making a save on Loui Eriksson, Senators' goalie Pascal Leclaire had not yet regained his feet when Eriksson made a pass to Brad Richards, which Richards then shot into the wide open net to tie the game at 3-3.

A freebie for his 18th...

Once again, a Senators' misplay led to a Stars goal. Accepting a pass from Brandon Segal, James Neal headed for the net, with Pascal Leclaire expecting him to shoot. Instead, Neal backhanded the puck to Jamie Benn, who shot it into the open net for his 18th goal of the season.

You can hear the engine as he meandered his way into the passing zone...

Trevor Daley gets knocked a lot by Stars' fans for the pucks which go into the Stars' net off him. This time, Daley put the puck into the opposition's net during the 3rd period. He picked up the puck on a Senators' turnover in the neutral zone and skated it into the offensive zone, shooting it into the net from 31 ft. Not only would the goal chase Pascal Leclaire (who was very pissed off, as seen at the end of the video) from the game, it would prove to be the game winner.

Brad Richards postgame interview

Named the 2nd Star of the game for his two-goal performance (Jason Spezza of Ottawa was 1st Star with a hat trick in a losing effort), Brad Richards spoke to Brent Severyn after the game on Stars Live.

Trevor Daley postgame interview

Named the 3rd Star of the game after scoring the game-winning goal and having four blocked shots (second on the Stars after Karlis Skrastins), Trevor Daley spoke to Brent Severyn on Stars Live after the game.

Video highlights from the Stars-Sharks game, 16 March

2010-03-18T00:04:16Z

Here are some video highlights from last night's game between the Stars and San Jose Sharks. It was a great game, up there with the Washington game last Monday in my book (although this one was more of a team effort). Six different Stars players put the puck into the net eight times, and goalie Kari Lehtonen, getting his second start as a Star, made 45 saves.

For most of the videos, the title comes from a comment made by Ralph or Razor during the video.

See the videos after the jump....

No power play is a bad power play until it's over....

Brad Richard's 1st period power play goal

Dallas has struggled with special teams recently - the two PP goals against Washington last Monday were the first in a long while. During the San Jose game, Dallas broke out of its special teams slump starting in the 1st period with this goal by Brad Richards (who also had one of the power play goals in the Washington game).

A poor understanding of the geometry of the rink....

Toby Peterson's 2nd period goal

Karlis Skrastins shot the puck up the rink, and it appeared to be an obvious case of icing. However, a comedy of errors on the part of the Sharks led to Toby Peterson depositing the puck into the net for a 2-0 Dallas lead. A Sharks' defenseman went to the wrong side of the net to touch the puck and ended up falling. The puck bounced off the boards and back in front of the net. In order not to negate the icing call, Evgeni Nabokov didn't go after the puck, which allowed Toby Peterson to grab the puck and shoot it into the net for an easy goal.

He's found his touch in Dallas....

Brandon Segal's 2nd period goal

Brandon Segal, who had one goal and one assist with Los Angeles this season before being picked up on waivers by Dallas, has exploded offensively with the Stars. He's had five goals and four assists in seven games with the Stars, the latest goal being this 2nd period goal against the Sharks which put the Stars up 3-0. Segal also added an assist later in the 2nd period on Brenden Morrow's goal.

They're just blowing right through the San Jose Sharks....

Brenden Morrow's 2nd period goal

Evgeni Nabokov's bad night got worse with this 2nd period goal by Brenden Morrow. Less than halfway through the game, Dallas was up 4-0 and Nabokov's night was over, as he gave way to Sharks' backup Thomas Greiss in an effort to stop the bleeding. However, if the Sharks were hoping for a 3rd period comeback as they had in their game against Nashville on March 11th, they were to be disappointed.

That is just 100% determination...

Mike Ribeiro's 3rd period shorthanded goal

Thomas Greiss did not fair any better than Evgeni Nabokov after coming into the game in relief less than halfway through the 2nd period. The first goal Greiss gave up was this shorthanded goal to Mike Ribeiro almost seven minutes into the 3rd period to make the game 5-2 in favor of the Stars (San Jose had scored less than two minutes before the end of the 2nd period and again less than a minute into the 3rd to make the game 4-2).

All six foot four of him that time...

Kari Lehtonen save on Dany Heatley during the 3rd period

The Sharks did try at points to get back into the game. Here, Dany Heatley has a shot on goal which Kari Lehtonen saves by pushing the puck away with his toe as he slides across the crease.

What a cratering of the Sharks' power play...

Brenden Morrow's 3rd period shorthanded goal (and second of the night)

To give up one shorthanded goal in a game? Ouch. To give up two - especially two in a row - is inexcusable, but that is what the Sharks did. Mike Ribeiro headed into Sharks' ice with the puck and passed it to Brenden Morrow, who put it past Thomas Greiss for his second goal of the game, and first multi-goal game since October. It was also the first time the Stars had two shorthanded goals in one game since 2002 against Vancouver.

Holy white flag, San Jose...

Steve Ott's 3rd period goal

It wasn't a shorthanded goal this time, but just two minutes after giving up Brenden Morrow's shorty, Thomas Greiss gave up a goal to Steve Ott. Greiss made a save on Loui Eriksson's shot, which rebounded right to Brad Richards, who shot it to the net, with Ott tipping it in for Dallas' seventh goal of the game. Razor, aside from the joke about the white flag, also joked about San Jose declining penalties for the rest of the game, which many Dallas fans can relate to given the Stars' usual poor play on the man advantage.

He has Ginsu'd Shark tonight...

Mike Ribeiro's 3rd period power play goal (and second of the game)

Mike Ribeiro wasn't finished after his shorthanded goal early in the 3rd period. On the power play with less than five minutes left in the game, Ribeiro scored again off a pass from Brad Richards. It was Dallas' final goal of the game, for a score of 8-2. The offensive output was the highest by the Stars this season, and the 6-goal margin of victory matched their season high from the October 14th game against Nashville. Ribeiro and Brenden Morrow (who had the other assist on this goal) both finished with four points in the game - two goals and two assists each.

Unfortunately, all was not good for the Stars during the game. During the 2nd period, Stephane Robidas received a five-minute major and game misconduct for this hit on Ryane Clowe. Clowe ended up with a cut above his eye, but returned to the game during the ensuing power play (which the Sharks promptly gave back to the Stars by taking two penalties during the 5-minute power play).

After the game, Kari Lehtonen spoke to Brent Severyn on Stars Live. Kari had 45 saves on 47 shots during his first home start as a Star and was named the 1st Star of the game.

Video highlights from the Stars-Flyers game, 18 March

2010-03-20T03:07:11Z

"You win some, you lose some." The Dallas Stars have certainly known that feeling during this up and down season. Just two days after inarguably one of their best games of the season, the Stars welcomed the Flyers to the American Airlines Center. Unfortunately, the outcome would not be nearly as advantageous to the Stars, who lost 3-2. The major bright spot for the Stars was Steve Ott, who picked up where he had left off during the Stars' last game against the Flyers (on January 12th in Philly). Despite the fact that the Stars lost, Ott was still named the 1st Star of the game.

Two passes and a goal....

With the Flyers' Ryan Parent in the box for tripping, Dallas went on the first power play of the game. After the Flyers had cleared the zone, Brad Richards recovered the puck in Dallas' end. Coming up the ice, he passed to Jamie Benn, who then passed to Steve Ott. Ott slapped the puck past goalie Brian Boucher for the first goal of the game.

Rigor mortis had set in on the Flyers defensively on this...

The Flyers' defense and goaltender just flat out misplayed this chance for the Stars. Loui Eriksson passed the puck to Nicklas Grossman. Brian Boucher, expecting Grossman to shoot, move out to meet the shot while the defense collapsed around Grossman. Instead, Grossman passed the puck to Steve Ott, who easily shot the puck back door into the net for his second goal of the game, and his fourth in the last two periods played against the Flyers. Unfortunately, that would be all the offense that the Stars would muster in this game.

Steve Ott postgame interview

After the game, Steve Ott - who had been named the 1st Star of the game despite a losing effort on the part of the Stars - was interviewed for Stars Live.

SB Nation Survey + Chance to donate $500 to a charity of this community's choice

2010-03-20T00:47:54Z

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Kari Lehtonen extension

2010-03-18T16:48:01Z

fact or fiction?

this is a quote from NHL.com

Kari Lehtonen finally showed Dallas fans why the Stars wanted him. Dallas acquired Lehtonen from Atlanta prior to the Olympics, signed the former No. 2 draft pick to a four-year deal and let his back heal some more before finally getting him into uniform after the break.

I certainly wasn't aware of any extensions being signed.

full story here:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=521793

Brandon Segal: The Value of a Right-Handed Shot

2010-03-17T04:50:33Z

The Dallas Stars are supposed to be an offensively impressive and balanced team. All of the pieces are essentially there, with some incredibly talented forwards forming a solid nucleus for this team to build around. But there's always been something missing, that one key ingredient that always seemed to hold this team back:

The right-handed winger.

It fives balance to a scoring line. It makes the center's job much easier, and opens up so much more on the power play. The Stars have Stephane Robidas and Jere Lehtinen, and have drafted a number of right-handers in the past few years, but that's not helping right now.

Brandon Segal is showing what a difference a rightie can make. His tenacity and finishing ability perfectly compliment Mike Ribeiro and Brenden Morrow, and I don't think it's a coincidence we're really starting to see both of them start to play like we're used to.

It doesn't hurt that Segal has seemed to find a role he truly embraces here in Dallas, and has instantly become a valuable member of the team.

Righties. We need more of them.

Maybe Time To Experiment With Trevor Daley At Forward?

2010-03-13T00:40:50Z

I doubt this will happen, and its really to bad, but I really would like to see Mark Crawford move Trevor Daley up to forward for a few games to see how he does!

I truly believe he would thrive up there. In my personal opinion, I think that Trevor is the fastest guy on the Stars. I can't tell you how many times I have seen him bring the puck up from our own end of the ice with a full head of steam, then bust into the opposing teams zone, which usually results in a high quality scoring chance for him or a teammate. He has a great shot, loves to hit, and is aggressive. Not only that, he would make a great two way forward since he understands the defensive side of hockey.

Since nothing seems to be working for our Black Shirts on both ends of the ice right now, and it appears that we will be missing the playoffs for a second straight year, I don't see how trying this out can hurt. I mean our defense wouldn't get any worse if we stuck Maxime Fortunas in his place for a few games so we could give this a shot. We could very well have a diamond in the rough with #6!

Cap Room

2010-03-09T05:15:22Z

I thought since I am in a good mood I would break down our entire budget situation for next season and discuss possible options going forward.

I think it is fairly safe to say Joe likes the core of this team going forward, including most of the defense. Here is a complete breakdown of salary committed to next season(keep in mind I am using the salary numbers not the avg cap hit, because cap hit for this team is basically irrelevant) using figures from nhlnumbers.com

Goalies:

Kari Lehtonen- 3 million (assuming he is signed to a standard qualifying offer)

Total Hit- 3.75 million

Defense:

Robidas- 3.250 million

Fistric- 1.0 million

Daley- 2.5 million

Karlis- 1.65 million

Woywitka- 700,000

Total Hit- 9.1 million

Forwards:

Richie- 7.8million

Ribs- 5.0 million

Morrow- 4.1 million

Loui- 3.2 million

Ott- 2.95 million

Benn- 635,000

Sutherby- 850,000

Segal- 550,000

Total Hit- 25.085 million

Overall Hit- 37.935 million

Team Budget- 50 million (based on on currect projected salary totals)

Remaining Money- 12.065 million

RFA`s (assumptions, open to discussion)

Neal- 3 million

Grossman- 2.5 million

Niskanen- 1.5 million

Fortunus- 650,000 (2 way deal)

Brunner- Don`t see him coming back....

Wandell- 900,000

Sawada- 650,000 (2 way deal)

Lindgren- 650,000 (2 way deal)

UFA`s

Modano- Retired

Lehtinen- Retired

Barch- Not re-signed

Petersen- 800,000

Turco- Not re-signed

Total Signings- 8.6 million in NHL contracts

1.95 million 2 way deals

Remaining Salary- 3.465 (not including 2 way deals)

Needs:

-Backup Goalie

-Checking Line Forward

-RW

-Upgraded Defense

So after some assumptions and generally accounting for re-signing all the youth there is 3.465 million left, based on maybe a generous assumption for the team budget, with a few pressing needs.

I like what I have seen from Segal as a depth winger, however I still think there is a need for some veteran depth. Or maybe we just offset what we need with the likes of Lindgren, Sawada depending on how Joe views this teams direction. So really the cost of shoring up for forward groups is minimal at best.

possible options; Begin, Yelle, Comrie, Halpbern, Malholtra, Primeau, Morrison

Goalie....pretty simply veteran presence who can play at least 30 games given Kari`s history this will be vital

UFA`s; Lalime, Hedberg, Biron, Ellis, Raycroft, Leighton

Best for last ....Defense, based on what I have thrown out there, there is basically no salary room left over for a FA signing. However with this scenario there is about 13-14 forwards signed, as well as 8 defenseman. Point being there are quite a few options left with this siutation. You obviously do not need to make all of these signings 1 or 2 fewer signings along with moving Daley or Nisky and you can go after a FA with hopefully 3-4 million.

options; RFA; Grebshkov, Coburn, Lee, Ranger, White, Letang, Franson

UFA; Martin, Clark, Mitchell, Seidenberg, Hamhuis, Mara, Leopold, Ference, McKee

Clealry options are going to be limited, and I think we would be lucky to get 1 new guy on the blueline and the team is going to probably have to rely on the infusion of new prospects like Larsen, Fortunus, Lindgren. But I remain hopeful that time will serve the current d-corps well along with hopefully 1 solid addition . But as it remains on paper this team seems to have a lot of good pieces and I think it is just a matter of time, experience, some tweaks to figure this thing out....A new owner with big pockets wouldnt hurt tho.

***I totally forgot about adding in Avery's 2 million....but no one really knows if Hicks is counting that or not but here it is anyways.

Crawford

2010-03-08T06:43:33Z

I do not necessarily agree with the way a lot of Head Coach jobs are treated now a days, in all pro sports, I dont agree with them being the fall guy to spark a team. However I really am at the point in wondering what if anything Crawford is actually doing to make this team better...in any facet. With Morrow, Zubov, Ott, Lehtinen, Richards all spending extended periods of time on the IR this team was actually better off at this point last season.

I was really really trying to give this team an entire season to gel and get comfortable and see Nisky, Daley flourish in an offensive minded system. And yet the team actually has LESS goals....I am completely at a loss for words on this entire season.

I was expecting exciting hockey with some speed bumps, instead we get to watch peewee mistakes on a nightly basis and it honestly looks like trying to scale the Rockies as opposed to working out some kinks. I can just only wonder where Tippett may have had us at this point had he of not just been cast aside in a regime change, and maybe a continued focus on the defensive aspects would actually have helped Daley and Niskanen instead of exposing them.

I am certainly not saying I do not think it was time for a coaching change, because I was all about getting a hard nosed coach featuring an offensive style. But instead we got the Disney version of a former hard nosed coach who hasn't won anything since he had 4 hall of famers in his lineup.

I wanna know how much longer we must suffer with a guy who clearly is not getting the job done, and would rather be the one giving Morrow a back massage after the game as opposed to lighting a fire under his as s to get some passion into this teams game. I for one am sick of watching, 40 minutes, at best of, half the team trying then a monumental collapse on countless occasions which results in a painfull regulation loss, or the dreaded OT loss which this team cannot even seem to manage anymore(I never thought I would say this but it would be nice if we could at least get to OT before collapsing) followed by Crawford "well we did some good things out there, but the defense wasnt very good so we will have to keep working at it...".

Well this ends my rant...hopefully it has some decent thoughts in it and doesn't just come off ass venting.

The mythical number one on the block

2010-03-08T01:08:44Z

This isn't the post I set out to write initially but well I couldn't let it go. Sorry for the length but I hope it provides useful information about how shortcutting this won't work.

Fixing the defense won't be easy or cheap in terms of talent traded to make the backline respectable. Anyone looking for some overnight immediate and substantial upgrade is going to be disappointed. Its not going to happen. At least 4/6ths of the defense needs to go and perhaps even 5/6ths. Doing it on a budget where you can’t money whip a FA stud like Volchenkov, Kubina, Michalek, or Martin makes it even harder. I’m not calling out Kritter because I’ve seen this thought process by several others on various Dallas boards and her quotes here were just succinct and handy to use. They’re here to illustrate some logic fallacies and debunk one straw man argument.

Quote:

My thought is they need to trade for a young-ish (i.e., under 30, and ideally still RFA age), big-time defenseman. Yes, that will cost a lot in terms of player/draft pick assets, but it will definitely address the need in the near future instead of possibly addressing the need in 3-4 years. I get that a player like that may not have been available, or they weren't willing to pay the price available, at the deadline, but I think it's the much smarter way to get the type of player they're looking for.

The list of true number one defensemen in this league is smaller than you think and those who fit the under 30 label reduces it further. In addition those assets are not on the block. Established 1st defensemen who are cost controlled are not moved, ever. Boyle wasn’t under 30 and made too much money. Dallas isn’t going to trade for a 6 million dollar defenseman. If that were the case Visnovsky would be here rather than Anaheim. But just to prove my point here’s the list.

Team	Name	Age	salary	signed thru
Atlanta	Tobias Enstrom	26	3.75	2013
Anaheim	none
Boston	none
Buffalo	none
Calgary	Jay Bouwmeester	26	6.8	2014
Carolina	Joni Pitkanen	26	4	2011
Chicago	Duncan Keith	26	5.53	2023
Chicago	Brent Seabrook	24	3.5	2011
Detroit	none
Edmonton	none
Florida	Keith Ballard	28	4.2	2015
Los Angeles	Drew Doughty	20	ELC 2011
Minnesota	none
Montreal	none
Nashville	Shea Weber	24	4.5	2011
Nashville	Ryan Suter	25	3.5	2012
New Jersey	none
NY Islanders	none
NY Rangers	Marc Staal	23	RFA
Ottawa	none
Philadelphia	none
Phoenix	Keith Yandle	23	1.5	2011
Pittsburgh	Kris Letang	22	RFA
San Jose	none
St. Louis	Erik Johnson	22	RFA
Tampa Bay	Victor Hedman	19	ELC thru 2012
Toronto	Dion Phanuef	24	6.5	2014
Vancouver	none
Washington	Mike Green	24	5.25	2012

Of this list Hedman hasn’t reached that point but since Tampa won’t trade him it doesn’t really matter. The bolded names of Ballard, Staal, and Phanuef I would debate are even number ones. But let's say that's true. Ballard is probably on the block but for 4.2 million I'd rather pay Robidas and I'm no fan of Robidas. Staal isn't the true puckmover we need and the price would be Benn or Neal going back the other way and if you're going to give up those assets then I want a better all around guy than even Marc Staal. Phaneuf was just traded for. Burke isn't going to move him after 25 games in a Leafs uniform.

Letang will only be moved if Gonchar signs a long term deal and even then they'll probably trade Goligoski first. Either way the price for them is Neal or Benn. Again, if I'm trading one of them I want a true bonafide stud, not a guy who's still trying to earn that label.

Seabrook may be traded because of the cap but I doubt that will be the case before his current contract expires after next season. They'd be much better off dumping Versteeg and Byfuglien than moving their other stud on the blueline.

So this whole idea of finding a stud under 30 defenseman that Dallas is somehow going to trade for is a non-starter. It won’t happen.

The second list of players are young guys trying to establish themselves on the above level. Some are more solely puck movers and while adequate in their own zone are never going to be labeled as complete defensemen.

Team	Name
Atlanta	Bogosian
Boston	Wideman
Buffalo	Myers
Calgary	Giordano
Colorado	Quincy
Edmonton	Gilbert
Los Angles	Johnson
NY Rangers	Gilroy
Ottawa	Lee
Philadelphia	Coburn
Philadelphia	Carle
Pittsburgh	Goligoski
St. Louis	Pietrangelo
Tampa Bay	Foster (UFA)
Tampa Bay	Meszaros
Toronto	Gunnerson
Vancouver	Ehrhoff
Vancouver	Edler
Washington	Carlson
Washington	Alzner

Everyone has played at least a few games in the NHL this season. And I didn't even get into Franson, Blum, Shattenkirk, Sanguinetti, McDonagh, Weber, Sibisa, Bulter, Subban and dozens of other prospects that could be targeted.

These bolded ones are generally either having a down season or players that may have to be moved because of money. Who's better than whom, well that's a matter of opinion and probably even NHL teams would debate the upside of lots of these guys.

I don’t think there’s anyway in the world Atl let’s go of Bogosian, Buffalo Myers, Calgary Giordano, Colorado Quincy, NYR Gilroy, or Van Ehrhoff. Prying Calrson or Alzner is going to take a very nice payment as well.

So yeah the options are rather limited. Once you accept that the idea of rebuilding seems far more likely. Because of that list perhaps five of them turn into true number one studs. The rest become twos and threes and some will wash out completely.

Quote:

Most of the players can be good in particular, lower-minute roles, but this team has failed to acquire or draft/develop truly top-end talent.

Okay wait. Daley has yet to be average so far in his career. Keeping him in a lower minute role and paying him 2.3 million for the privilege is poor money management. If he can’t fill a 3-4 spot then he doesn’t need to be on this roster. Why would you want to keep him? Why would it be a good idea to keep him instead of trading for a younger player with better potential? A pick is better than Daley even if it never works out. At least a pick won’t cost 2.3 million of NHL failure in all likelyhood. A new younger guy’s mistakes might be a learning curve for improvement. With Daley what you see is what you get and that’s not very good.

Skrastins is that older vet who finds work but really again I’m going to ask if keeping him for leadership purposes may be the first reason he should go out the door. I’m not blaming him for the failing of everyone but at this point the defense needs a fresh start and anyone associated with the old crew and its leadership probably needs to go.

As for drafting, well Niskanen’s a failure, does that mean they shouldn’t take another defenseman? Larsen’s done pretty well for himself over in the SEL and as long as he stays healthy, really what more can Dallas ask of him then what he’s proving in his current league. You want to question whether Dallas should have taken Kulikov instead of Glennie, I can understand but lets not kid ourselves that had we done so he’d be in the NHL right now. He’d still be playing for Drummondville of the QMJHL this season.

They've focused on offense rather than defense because for whatever reason where they've been drafting they prefer the forward to the defenseman available there. Yes that needs to change some. They have to take a couple of defensemen in this draft but its a matter of cycles. I don't think they've given up on d-prospects as a whole.

Quote:

Until they upgrade the defense, and that's going to be very expensive in terms of assets in trade or FA (and no draft pick will help for several years, and none are guaranteed to help, and I don't think they risk that - it's what they've attempted to do with this group).

So they should just stop drafting these players? Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water. Because Niskanen is a failure they shouldn’t try to draft or acquire other young puck moving defensemen? They’re not all created equal and they don’t all come fully matured at 20, 23, or even 25. You also can’t compare a defensive defenseman like Fistric to a player like Kulikov because they play completely different styles and types of games. People who believe Folwer won’t save this franchise are entirely correct. That doesn’t mean that drafting that type of potential franchise defenseman is a bad thing or that developing him for four years before he’s NHL ready should in any way contradict what’s going on at the NHL level. You have to have a good scouting and drafting system. Players like Eriksson, Neal, and Benn don’t show up on the roster otherwise. Drafting also doesn’t preclude finding NHL ready players through other means. You need the combo platter of NHL talent, prospects and picks. Otherwise you're trying to cheat the development curve and will probably fail. Part of that is targeting guys who’ve played in the AHL. Guys able to step into the NHL now. Thirty or more of those guys show up on various teams throughout the season. Most won’t make it as more than 4s but if you trust your scouting department and believe in your coaching then acquiring a guy in that mold is a solid first step.

And at this point does anyone really want to see another year of this group of defenseman or would you rather watch some young kids and maybe a guy like Coburn or Goligoski? They may not be better as a group but I’d bet money they’ll improve. Can the same be said about Daley, Skrastins, and Niskanen?

Quote:

Forgive me for not being excited about a potential draft pick when this defense is made up of mostly draft picks.

Comparing the car you buy off the dealership lot to the car on a NASCAR race track is hardly fair. Dallas is going to get a good pick. The 8th or 10th overall pick is far more likely to make it than the 22nd, 24th, and 33rd selections. And again because Niskanen and Daley didn’t develop the way you want doesn’t mean the method of drafting and developing is flawed it just means those two didn’t reach their potential. In case you’re unaware the AHL and NHL is littered with guys who had amazing potential they never reached. You still have to draft and develop these guys, especially in a salary cap system. Youth failing is a direction. Daley and Skrastins failing is just wasting everyone’s time. If the team is going to be widely inconsistent and again not good I'd rather watch the Islanders plan than the Minnesota one. Young player development is preferable to the hodge podge.

Trading what we’ve got, be it Morrow, Richards, Robidas, Ribeiro, Daley, Skrastins and Niskanen for a combination of picks and younger players is how its going to work. They’re not going to nor should they dump everyone listed above. They’re also not going to limit themselves to all NHL players or all picks and prospects. They’re going to try and walk the fine line of getting both so they can hopefully improve next year and in the future. Once everyone accepts that the question becomes will they try to muddle along and hope things improve. Will they embrace the rebuild? Will they redistribute money and hope it works out and do you trust this management group to get it right? Because if they try and plug holes without really making any major changes this team will continue to finish 16th-24th in the league on a regular basis. No one here wants that.

Missing Our Finns

2010-03-08T00:57:05Z

I remember the 2006 Winter Olympics quite well (the hockey, at least) and the one thing that sticks out in my mind, is the fact that I wasn't cheering for Team USA, but for Team Finland. Back when the Stars were a virtual lock for a playoff spot, I always took pride in the fact that we had a higher than average number of Finnish players on the ice. Don't ask me why, but I always had a soft spot for the Finns. With a solid core of hard-working, two-way playing Finns, I feel like we, as fans, were spoiled into thinking that that was the way hockey ought to be played. However, as the years went by, our multitude of Finns slowly leaked out of the system, and as such, the hard-working, tireless play of the Stars came to an end

Kari Lehtonen has rekindled my hopes in seeing a Finnish led Stars team, and has had me thinking... where are all our favorite Finns now?

#39 - C Niko Kapanen

Selected by the Dallas Stars in Round 6, #173 overall 1998 Entry Draft

Kapanen had a fairly productive rookie season with the Stars, scoring 34 points in 2002. He followed that with an invisible sophomore performance with 6 points the next year. He, like many NHLers, played in his home country the year of the lockout, gaining valuable experience and keeping in shape. He returned after the lockout for his career best year (14-21-35), before being shipped off to Atlanta for D Jaroslav Modry, C Patrik Stefan and a 7th round pick in 2006. Kapanen found himself in Atlanta for less than a year before being plucked off waivers by the Phoenix Coyotes. His stay in Phoenix was short-lived and unproductive, and after the '08 season, Kapanen signed with Ak Bars Kazan of the KHL. Kapanen was a part of the Finland 2006 Turin silver medal team, as well as the 2010 Vancouver bronze team. Kapanen turns 32 this April.

#27 - D Teppo Numminen

Traded to Dallas from Phoenix, in exchange for C Mike Sillinger

Teppo's stay in Dallas was short-lived, but not as short-lived as Mike Sillinger's. In the 2003 offseason, Sillinger was dealt to the Stars, from Columbus with a second round pick, in exchange for D Darryl Sydor. Later that same day, Sillinger was flipped to the Coyotes in exchange for Numminen, arguably one of the best European defensemen to ever play the game. Teppo played 62 games for the Stars, posting a meek 17 points and -5 in the process. Numminen took a break from hockey during the lockout, but returned as a free agent with the Sabres in 2005. He has since survived heart surgery, set an NHL record for games played by a European-born player, and had his number retired by Phoenix. Numminen won two silvers and a bronze with Team Finland, the most recent being the silver in the '06 Turin games.

#20 - RW Antti Miettinen

Selected by the Dallas Stars in Round 7, #224 overall 2000 Entry Draft

Miettinen always looked like he had the hands to become something special in the NHL. His first full year in '05 with the Stars was moderately productive (11-20-31), as was his second (11-14-25), as was his third (15-19-34) but he never really gained enough momentum to become a top-six forward for the Stars. Fortunately for him, Miettinen was about the smartest guy out there on the ice and was a capable defender for it. Miettinen could be thought of as Jere Lite; a solid player, making solid decisions just not at the same level of performance as the real thing. Dallas decided their money would be spent better elsewhere in '08, and Minnesota swooped him up for a 3-year, $7 million deal. Antti began seeing top-six time and responded with a career best 44 points, his first year with the Wild. This year, he is on a similar pace. Antti has been selected twice for the Finland Olympic squad (Turin and Vancouver), but was not able to participate because of injury in 2006; he was replaced by teammate Niklas Hagman.

#15 - LW Niklas Hagman

Traded to Dallas from Florida, in exchange for a 7th round draft pick

After three years of modest production in Florida, a simple trade in 2005 brought the Stars one Nik Hagman. The remainder of that first year was notably quiet for him (6-9-15), but most fans took note of his grit and effort. Hagman's second year with the Stars found him scoring goals in the most absurd fashion possible. His line of 17-12-29 was a welcome surprise from the depths of the lineup. Hagman continued this trend into '07, when he broke out with a career best 27 goals and 41 points. Unfortunately, his newfangled scoring touch, caused a newfangled price tag and he signed as a free agent with the Toronto Maple Leafs for Steve Ott money (4 years at $3M/year). Hagman spent a year and a half in Toronto, before the recent trade which saw him land in Calgary. He is currently on pace for a 46 point season. Hagman was on the '06 Turin silver medal Finnish team, as well as the '10 Vancouver bronze team. Also, his wife is a model.

#36 - LW Jussi Jokinen

Selected by the Dallas Stars in Round 6, #192 overall 2001 Entry Draft

A 55 point rookie season set the expectations for young Jussi in 2005. That, and the fact that he was awesome in shootouts. Jokinen went 9 for 9 before finally being stopped by Evgeni Nabokov, en route to establishing himself as one of the elite shootout specialists in the league. His 46 point season was an acceptable sophomore slump, but when he didn't rebound in '07, the Stars dealt him, along with prospect G Mike Smith and C Jeff Halpern, to the Tampa Bay Lightning for C Brad Richards and G Johan Holmqvist. At the time, there was a bit of fan shock due to Jokinen's popularity, but here in 2010 its safe to say that this trade looks like its been a pretty good ~~steal~~ deal. Jussi left the Lightning via trade to the Carolina Hurricanes for D Wade Brookbank, D Josef Melichar and a 4th round pick. He further engraved his name into the hockey history books by scoring the latest goal in NHL history, with a game winning goal with just 0.2 seconds left in regulation in a Eastern Conference Quarterfinals game against the New Jersey Devils. Jokinen is the all-time leader in shootout goals in NHL history, and was also a member of the '06 Turin silver medal team. Jussi has since returned to his rookie year form and is on pace for a 32-33-65 season.

#4 - D Janne Niinimaa

Traded to Dallas from the New York Islanders, in exchange for D John Erskine and a 2nd round draft pick

Played 22 games with the Stars, in which he scored 2 goals and had 4 assists. However, that is not why he is relevant. After a quarter of a season with Dallas, he was traded to Montreal for a certain C Mike Ribeiro. Picks were also exchanged; a Dallas 5th for a Montreal 6th. Niinimaa spent a half season in Montreal acquiring 3 assists, before packing his bags for Switzerland, where he currently plays for the National League A's SCL Tigers. Janne won a bronze medal with Finland at the Nagano '98 Winter Olympics.

Hockey is still a team game: A look at the Dallas Stars' Offense

2010-03-05T15:47:27Z

(...or it's not just the goaltending and defense)

Editors Note: The following is a Fanpost made by our very fine community member TracyJean that we think deserves a little time on the front page for sure. Thanks, Tracy.

A look at the Dallas Stars' offensive output

The goaltending and defense have been beat to death the last two games - really, over the course of this season, so let's take a different tact in looking at why the Stars are losing hockey games. It's time to look at the offense and their culpability in how the Stars have fared this season.

Offense wins hockey games, doesn't it? Isn't that why Marc Crawford was hired, to bring his offensive-focused system to Dallas? Your goaltender can have one of the best games of the year and still lose if the offense doesn't score any goals - after all, your goalie usually cannot help you with that apart from the odd assist (only 9 NHL goalies have ever been credited with scoring a goal). Just look at the January 10th and February 4th games in Columbus as examples. The goalie was on his game, but the offense was absent (Jan 10th) or almost completely absent (Feb 4th) and Dallas lost both games. Last year, two of Marty Turco's three shutouts turned into shootout losses (against Phoenix on Jan 10th and Los Angeles on March 26th).

So let's take a look at the offensive output for this season and see how the Dallas Stars fare when they are scoring goals versus when they are not. For the purposes of this analysis, I'm using 3 goals as the threshold, as that seems to be the number commonly thrown around as the number needed to win games. Each month will be broken down by the number of games in which Dallas scored 3 or more goals versus the games in which the team scored 2 or less.

After the jump, Tracy breaks it down month by month...

October

Dallas played fourteen games during the month of October with an overall record of 6-3-5. They scored 2 or fewer goals in three games, with losses coming in all three games (two regulation losses and one shootout loss). 3 or more goals were scored in the remaining ten games. Dallas' record in those games? 6-0-4. They got points out of all ten games, with six wins and four OT/SO losses. October seems to prove the rule that offense wins games, or at least gets you points in games.

November

There were thirteen games played in November, with Dallas going 6-5-2. The offensive output slacked off during November, with the Stars scoring 2 or fewer goals in nine of those games and 3 or more in only five games. Once again, in games where Dallas scored 3+ goals, the team earned points in all five games, with four wins and one OT/SO loss. The record in the nine games with 2 or fewer goals is a bit of an anomaly, with wins coming in two of those games (2-6-1). The Nov 6th game against Vancouver (final score 2-1) and Nov 23rd game against Carolina (final score 2-0, Marty Turco's second shutout of the season) were both goalie duels, with both goaltenders being named Stars of the Game in both games.

December

Dallas was 6-3-4 in December over thirteen games played. The offensive output went back up during December, as reflected in the record. 3+ goals were scored in nine games, with a record in those games of 6-1-2. For the first time, Dallas lost a game in regulation in which it had scored at least three goals (Dec 16th at Carolina, final score 5-3). Dallas was back to their losing ways in games during which they scored less than three goals, going 0-2-2 in four games.

January

Fifteen games were played in January, with Dallas going 6-9-0, in part due to the Stars' woeful road record - they won only one out of eight road games in January. In games where Dallas scored less than three goals, they were blanked, going 0-6-0 (including three shutouts - ouch). The record in games where Dallas scored three or more was an anomaly, with Dallas going 6-3-0. In the first of those three losses, January 12th in Philadelphia, the score was actually 6-1 until late, when Steve Ott scored two garbage goals with less than eight minutes to go in the third. In the next game in Montréal, the game was tied 3-3 until the Habs scored twice in the third. In the Vancouver game on the 21st, the game was tied 2-2 going into the third, the Canucks scored twice, and then Trevor Daley pulled Dallas within one with three seconds left in the game.

February

Due to the Olympic break, Dallas only played six games in February, with a remarkable record of 4-1-1. In all but one of those games, Dallas scored 3+ goals, going 4-0-1. In the only game in which they scored less than three goals, Dallas lost the game.

March

Not much to be said about March. One goal in each of the last two games, losses in both games.

The 2009-2010 season so far

Month	Games Played	<3 goals	Record	3+ goals	Record
October	14	3	0-3-1	10	6-0-4
November	13	9	2-6-1	4	3-0-1
December	13	4	0-2-2	9	6-1-2
January	15	6	0-6-0	9	6-3-0
February	6	1	0-1-0	5	4-0-1
March	2	2	0-2-0	0	0-0-0

Totals	63	25	2-19-4	38	26-4-8

Dallas has played 63 games as of last night, with a record of 28-23-12. Fewer than three goals have been scored in 25 of those games, with a record in those games of 2-19-4. That's 8 out of a possible 50 points in those games (.160 points percentage). In the 38 games where 3+ goals have been scored, Dallas' record is 26-4-8, for 60 points (out of 76 possible; .789 points percentage).

There are other ways to look at the data. How many of those games where Dallas scored less than three goals were one-goal games? Six - four of which were OT/SO losses and two of which were regulation losses. One more save in the OT losses and they are wins. One more save in the regulation loss and it goes to overtime; two more and it's a win. So yes, goal tending (and defense, by extension) is part of the problem. They are not the only problem, however. All of the pieces have to come together, and for the Dallas Stars, they are not right now.

Lehtonen and the Rest of the Season

2010-03-04T19:31:51Z

So Sturm writes a blog for the Stars' website. In his latest blog post he wrote, "But, I think keep Turco means that they will be judicious with Lehtonen's starts and set him up for a successful 4 or 5 starts in the final 20 games."

http://stars.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=520132

Excuse me? Four or five starts? What the hell. Lethonen should be getting about 15 starts. How can any competent executive go into the next season with his starting goalie only have played five games the previous season? A goaltending duo of Lethonen and Krahn (or some other similarily situated spare) would be such a disaster. I can't comprehend such a situaion. This thing is not going in a good way. No money to upgrade the D, an extremely poor goaltending situation is not a formula for success.

Our Dallas Stars' Poster Boy

2010-03-04T15:24:28Z

Who is in charge of the front page graphics on the Dallas Stars' website? He/she needs to be fired. As most of you know, every game day when you visit the Dallas Stars' website, the first page is always a graphic of the key players on each team for the Stars game. Have you seen today's? Can you guess what key player this genius decided epitomizes the Dallas Stars? Brad Richards?....uh no. Remember, it has to be someone who puts the fear of God in the opponent, right? Is it Steve Ott then? It has to be....uh wrong. Guess again. Ok, ok....hmmmmmm. Let's go with an Olympian then. How 'bout Eriksson?......try again. Neal? Nope. BENN?.....still cold. I'm stumped....who is the embodiment of the Dallas Stars spirit, their grit, determination, toughness, and physicality? You scan the roster....DAMN! How could I have missed him?! NISKA-FREAKIN'-NEN!!

Memo to the Dallas Stars graphics department:

Hey Forrest Gump, there's a doctor here asking for his magic shoes back.

Alex Auld Claimed By New York Rangers On Re-Entry Waivers

2010-02-27T18:05:19Z

We all knew that the Stars never had any intention of Alex Auld actually playing down in Austin. When Joe Nieuwendyk made the decision earlier this week that the team would ride Marty Turco for the rest of the season, the team figured the best route to take for Auld was to go ahead and place him on waivers now and give him a chance to play with another team this season.

Since Auld was picked up on re-entry waivers, the Dallas Stars and New York Rangers will split the remaining $227,000 Auld is owed this season. Auld should also serve as a valuable backup for the Rangers, ~~who have been using~~ who currently have Miika Wiikman as the backup to Henrik Lundqvist.

Press release after the jump.

Frisco, Tex. - Goaltender Alex Auld has been claimed by the New York Rangers off NHL re-entry waivers this morning. Per NHL rules, the Rangers and Stars will each pay half of the remainder of Auld's contract, which expires on June 30, 2010; Auld has been added to New York's NHL roster. The goaltender cleared regular NHL waivers on Thursday and was assigned to the Texas Stars, Dallas' primary minor league affiliate in the American Hockey League. Auld was then placed on NHL re-entry waivers on Friday.

Auld, 29, played in 21 games for Dallas this season, posting a 9-6-3 record with a 3.00 GAA and a .894 save percentage. The 6-4, 214-pound goaltender has appeared in 204 career NHL games, going 83-81-28 with six shutouts. Auld was acquired via trade with Ottawa on July 8, 2009, for a sixth round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

The Dallas Stars will return to action against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, March 2 at American Airlines Center (7:30 pm, TV: My27, Radio: Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket).

Alex Auld Placed on Waivers; Per Andy Strickland

2010-02-24T19:42:54Z

Well, this is an interesting move to say the least.

From the Twitter feed of NHL writer and radio host Andy Strickland:

Dallas Stars place Goaltender Alex Auld on waivers.

I think a few things are in play, here. The Stars probably didn't see much of a market for Marty as we approach the trade deadline. And they probably feel a motivated Marty Turco down the stretch is better in net than a questionable Kari Lehtonen.

To clear up any confusion: the Stars have placed Auld on waivers with the thought he will get picked up by another team, who will then take on the rest of his salary. If he clears waivers, then he'll be placed on re-entry waivers where any team grabbing him is on the hook for just half of his remaining salary. If there are still no takers, then the Stars will assign him to the Texas Stars most likely.

Anyway, best wishes to Auld in his future endeavors. He did a solid job of backing up Marty this year.

Olympic Hockey: Preliminary Morrow sightings

2010-02-16T05:56:59Z

Not much yet, but the internet should be awash with men's Team Canada pics, clips and whatnot after tomorrow's game against Norway.

"For now, Brenden Morrow is the extra forward... Mike Babcock cautioned, 'Don’t get too carried away with who’s playing with who' based on one practice."

Captain B will wear #10 for Canada. Corey Perry also wears #10 — younger players made the switch in deference to an older teammate.

Men's Olympic Media Guide p 51-52, download link at the bottom of list.

Seen anything else?

Turco's pads

2010-02-11T20:13:08Z

I became a hockey fan when the Stars moved to Texas, but I have never played the game so I am still trying to learn all the nuances. But there is something I have noticed and wanted to get more experienced people's opinions and facts about it.

It appears to me that Turco's pads seem to be smaller than most other goalies. I don't know if this is an illusion or not, but it seems like his pads tend to be more rounded around the edges. Other goalies like Auld (plus many others I have seen), have these big block style pads. When those goalies butterfly the pads lay square on their sides and cover most of the bottom of the net, but when Turco goes down it seems like he goes into a V shape with his legs angled back behind him insead of sticking out to the sides to cover more of the net. Is Turco just not as flexible?

I don't want this to turn into Turco bashing, I am just wondering if I am seeing things or is this just a different "technique" he plays versus other goalies.

Dallas Stars Claim Brandon Segal Off Waivers

2010-02-11T19:03:19Z

Editor's Note: I'm merging AA6's post and the news release on Brandon Segal being claimed by the Stars.

Energy forward with a right hand shot. Don't know too much else about him, but he looks like he could be dynamic if put on a line with Barch. I'm glad to see Dallas being a little more active lately. I think it will be interesting to see if they can snag a solid D man off of waiver wires.

Segal had a scoring touch in the AHL, so we'll see how that translates into minutes on an NHL 4th line.

Dallas Stars Press Release:

Frisco, Tex. - The Dallas Stars announced today that the club has claimed right wing Brandon Segal off NHL waivers from the Los Angeles Kings. Segal has been added to Dallas' NHL roster. The team also announced that it has placed Steve Ott on Injured Reserve, retroactive to Feb. 6.

Segal, 26, has appeared in 25 games for the Kings this season (27 NHL games in his career), scoring one goal and one assist with 20 penalty minutes. The 6-2, 209-pound right wing scored his first NHL goal on Jan. 9 vs. St. Louis in his 14th NHL game. Segal played in 21 games with Manchester (AHL) at the beginning of the season, scoring six goals and eight assists. A right-handed shot, he was originally drafted by Nashville in the fourth round (102nd overall) of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. Segal made his NHL debut last spring with two games as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning. He also played in 69 games last season with Norfolk (AHL), scoring 26 goals and 26 assists, and was named to the 2009 Canadian AHL All-Star Team.

Ott, 27, has appeared in 52 games this season, scoring 11 goals and 12 assists with 100 penalty minutes. He underwent surgery on Monday for an emergency appendectomy and is expected to be out until after the Olympic Break. Ott has played in 389 career NHL games, scoring 51 goals and 85 assists with 778 penalty minutes.