It's been a rough few weeks for the Texas Stars (20-22-1-2, 43 pts, #15 Western Conference), as they have not won a hockey game since January 21st and playoff hopes are dwindling in Cedar Park. In two games this week, Texas fell to the Aeros in Houston (Minnesota Wild) and the Charlotte Checkers (Carolina Hurricanes) at home. The two losses put Texas on a four game skid.

Updating last week's points pace report, the Stars need forty points to stay on pace with the eighth seed in the West. With only 33 games remaining, the task is becoming more daunting by the day. The required .606 win percentage is made more difficult by the sixteen remaining games against their own division, against which Texas has a 9-15-0-2 record on the season. In the plus column, the Stars will play ten of the remaining seventeen against the North Division, which they have a 3-0 record against so far this season. If current pace holds, Texas could be the only team to miss the playoffs in the West Division.

For Coach Pyle, it boils down to two things: self-discipline and finish. Concerning Saturday's game, he opined, "We missed four or five open nets, and the power play was sloppy. We had opportunities, but we didn't have finish."

Also in Saturday's game, Texas had a rough time with unnecessary penalties: "The self discpline of shutting your mouth, doing your job and staying out of the penalty box: that's a big part of the game. That's probably the most important trait any player can have. That's where some of these guys struggle."

More inside on each game, including a rare type of goal by Travis Morin...

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The Texas Stars (20-20-1-2, 43 pts, #13 Western Conference) saw their three game winning streak come to a crashing halt this week with two straight losses on the road. Friday night's game saw six goals against and the first pull for Andrew Raycroft on the season. The surging San Antonio Rampage (Florida Panthers) became winners of six straight with the W. League leading Oklahoma City (Edmonton Oilers) beat up on Texas on Saturday, throwing 44 shots at Raycroft for a 3-1 win.

As the Stars hit the All-Star break, it is clear that there is a huge amount of parity in the bottom half of the standings. Only four points separate eighth from fifteenth in the West; in the East, it's just five. Absolutely no one is out of the playoff race at this point.

By my math, the Stars need forty points in their final thirty-three games to keep pace with the current eighth place finisher. That's a record of 20-13, assuming no OT or SO losses, which have been rare for Texas this year anyways. Among those 33 games are 17 against the division, and only ten are against clubs not currently on pace to make the playoffs. The going's about to get real tough.

More inside on this week's games and injuries to Sawada, Tousignant and Lukowich...

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For the Texas Stars (20-18-1-2, 43 pts, #10 Western Conference), it was a really good week. The Stars assembled just their second three game win streak of the season in defeating the Chicago Wolves (Vancouver Canucks), Peoria Rivermen (St. Louis Blues) and Houston Aeros (Minnesota Wild). Overall, they are 6-2-1-1 in their last ten, which is arguably their best ten game stretch of the season.

Their record has been aided by several big factors. The first game changer was the arrival of Andrew Raycroft. In addition to his 6-2-1 record, 2.41 GAA and .914 SV%, he is a calming influence in the locker room. "He's great in the locker room," said Coach Pyle after the team's 6-2 win over Peoria. "When he says stuff in the locker room, which he does, guys listen. He adds energy and experience, and he's been great since he's been here."

Another big impact over the last ten games has been the play of the Sceviour-Glennie-Wathier line, which I have previously discussed in this space. Over the last ten, they are a combined 10-21-31 with a plus-13 rating. While Matt Fraser was surely deserving of a callup, any of those three could have just as easily gotten the call with their recent play.

Finally, off the Dallas fans' radar, several AHL contracted players have been lighting it up this week. Stephen Schultz, a Colorado College product and curly haired forward, blew up this week with three goals in the three games. Power play time has helped and Coach Pyle speaks highly of him. "Schultz is a sniper. I need a righty out there to fit the chemistry of the power play. He finds a way to get chances." Mike Hedden is the other player on a tear, getting two goal and two assists in three games, including a shorthanded tally.

More inside on this week's games and some thoughts on newcomer Angelo Esposito...

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It was yet another up and down week for the Texas Stars (17-18-1-2, 37 pts, #13 Western Conference). Texas went 2-2 on the week but in uneven fashion, winning against one of the best teams in the league and losing to the absolute worst. Consistency has been an issue all season for this club and it is now exacerbated by losing a key veteran piece in Francis Wathier.

The biggest storyline of the week has been the play of Wathier and his linemates, Colton Sceviour and Scott Glennie. All three are of particular interest to Dallas fans, none more so than first round pick Glennie. With the high pick, high expectations were set. Glennie has finally started to evolve his game to resemble what scouts saw in Brandon of the WHL. Coach Pyle definitely points to the concussion early season and some systems work that needed to be done as the reasons for the slow start. In the last six games, Glennie has eight points (4g, 4a) including two three-point efforts.

Colton Sceviour also picked up his game over the past few weeks. In the ten games since Christmas, Sceviour has four goals and eleven assists, including two game-winners. He's coming up all over the scoresheet and in clutch situations. Wathier, not to be outdone, is quietly having a career year. He is team-best plus-10 as well on a team that has struggled in that area. The next player behind him in that category is vet Brad Lukowich at plus-5.

More on each game, some thoughts on the Roman/Esposito trade, and more inside...

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Just three games were on the schedule for the Texas Stars (15-16-1-2, 33 pts, #14 Western Conference) this week, and the Stars got four of a possible six points. It's been a rough year so far for the Cedar Park faithful, so Stars' fans will take the points even if three of the four come against the worst team in the league, the Rockford IceHogs (Chicago Blackhawks).

Right now, Texas sits in the 14th spot in the conference. Doing the math, Texas will need to improve their winning percentage from .485 to .583 to make up for their current deficit and pull into the 8th seed by the end of the season. That's a 25-17 mark for those keeping track at home. It wouldn't be impossible if not for their record against the West Division, the teams they face the most.

Texas is 7-12-0-2 against the West and 8-4-1-0 against everyone else. Having strong teams in your division can be a beatdown sometimes. Dallas Stars fans are familiar with this from strong Anaheim, San Jose and LA teams over the past few years. For Texas, the demons they face are the OKC Barons (Edmonton Oilers), Abbotsford Heat (Calgary Flames) and Houston Aeros (Minnesota Wild). Texas is 5-9-0-1 against the big three.

Texas has to win those big division games to get back in the mix of things. Of the remaining 42 games, 21 are against the division. It doesn't get an easier from here.

Inside we'll look at each game and get injury reports on three Dallas contract players on the mend...

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Between callups and games lost, it's been a rough two weeks for the Texas Stars (14-16-0-1, 29 pts, #14 Western Conference). The AHL gives a much more significant Christmas break, so the Stars only had one game in the week surrounding the 25th, a strong win over Houston to send them to the break.

After Christmas, Texas returned home to beat the San Antonio Rampage (Florida Panthers) in overtime 3-2. Colton Sceviour scored the game winner. Texas then traveled to Abbotsford, BC, via Seattle for two games against the Heat (Calgary Flames). They dropped both contests just before the New Year and now sit idle until the weekend. Given the callup carousel, that is probably best right now.

As Stars fans know, Jordie Benn and now Brenden Dillon have been called up to Dallas, giving Texas just five blue liners: Brad Lukowich, Maxime Fortunus, Dan Spang, Jace Coyle and Hubert Labrie. Texas GM Scott White will have to add at least one defenseman as Lukowich had been battling a nagging injury and may not be 100% quite yet. Such is life in the AHL.

In other Dallas prospect news, Texas called up Jake Hauswirth, who was not expected to make the jump to the AHL, and liked what they saw. Hauswirth has gotten into four games since the callup and has recorded no points.

Inside we'll break down each individual game and take a look at some winnable weekend games...

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Trailing behind many of their conference foes in games played, the busy past week was a great chance for the Texas Stars (12-14-0-1, 25 pts, #14 Western Conference) to catch up in the points race. With a 2-2 record on the week, the Stars missed their chance to get back to .500 on the season with a loss to San Antonio on Sunday afternoon.

It was really an up and down week for the Stars. After losing to the OKC Barons (Edmonton Oilers) last week, they went to their house and kicked their teeth in in the first and eventually won 3-2. It was a strong win against the #1 team in the league. Then, they played a 3-in-3, losing 2 of 3, both against division foes. The only win on the weekend was at home against the Rochester Americans (Buffalo Sabres), a team that Texas had never played before that night.

Texas scored six goals in that game, including two shorthanded goals, but totaled three goals for in the other two games on the weekend. They bombed Jakob Markstrom with 48 shots on Sunday and still couldn't beat him for more than two. Lack of finish is hurting this team right now in the standings. Coach Pyle openly admits that when you can't get more than two, you aren't going to win a lot of games. Now the question is what to do about it.

More inside on the four games that the Stars had this week and an injury to a Dallas contracted player...

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This Tuesday morning finds the Texas Stars (10-12-0-1, 21 pts, #15 Western Conference) at the bottom looking up in the Western Conference standings. This week's slate of games wouldn't have you thinking that Texas is a last place team, however. They beat the #2 team in the conference in a 3-0 shutout and played tight with the league's top team only to lose 3-2.

It's a cruel fate for the Stars, who are trying to grow together as a team and learn to finish while they are constantly beaten down by the three top teams in the league, who are all in their division. The Oklahoma City Barons (Edmonton Oilers), Houston Aeros (Minnesota Wild) and Abbotsford Heat (Calgary Flames) combine for 30 of 76 total games against the Stars this season.

Coach Pyle talked a lot about finish in Saturday's postgame comments. "We need 50 shots to get 3 goals, and that's where we struggle. You're not going to win scoring two goals every night, you're going to need three and four."

"We get shots, we're putting it to the net but we've got no finish. When you get opportunities, you've got to bury them."

Deeper recap of this week's game and a look at the hellish week ahead for the Stars inside...

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