The Dallas Stars are heading back out on the road, this time for an East Coast swing where they will meet some of the best and the worst teams the Eastern Conference has to offer.
The team starts the trip with a 12:30 p.m. game against the Carolina Hurricanes today (or 1:30 p.m. for those of you who have forgotten to reset your clocks), but the Stars will still be without winger Steve Ott, who missed Friday's wacky game against the Colorado Avalanche with a "hip pointer."
Ott was on BaD Radio on Friday and described the injury, which sounded like a massive bruise to his hip that he got from landing awkwardly against the Los Angeles Kings. The continued bruising in the muscle caused his hip to "lock up" after the game against the New Jersey Devils, which is why the team shut him down for the past week.
Stars coach Glen Gulutzan did sound a little more optimistic about his progress at Saturday's practice, though he said Ott would not join the team on the first two games of the road trip at Carolina and the Washington Capitals.
"These last two days have been real good. Hes made some improvements and he is not in as much discomfort," said coach Glen Gtulutzan. "I think Tuesday is a stretch because we need him to practice a couple days. I think we are going to move that to Friday. He's going to stay back for the first bit of the trip so he can rehab and possibly get on the ice here by himself."
The lines in practice were the same as the game Friday. Why change what got you seven goals, eh?
After the jump, more on the Stars game against the Hurricanes, the Stars have brought back their wonderful behind-the-scenes photo galleries from road trips and another awesome Movember mask.
- Gulutzan's wonderful quote about Loui Eriksson helping him with his fashion sense makes another appearance in this paywalled story about how Eriksson may not fly under the NHL radar much longer. [DallasNews.com]
- Mark Stepneski takes a look at the challenge the upcoming roadtrip will present in this collection of notes. [ESPN Dallas]
- I think my favorite quote from this story about Glen Gulutzan, which was posted before Friday's game is the one from Krys Barch talking about how he likes Gulutzan's system because it minimizes thinking, and athletes don't like to think. It's funny cause it's true. [Fox Sports Southwest]
- Remember that awesome behind-the-scenes photo gallery the Stars did from a road trip last season? Well they're doing it again for this trip. Hopefully it's the first in a season-long series. [DallasStars.com]
- When is news about Sidney Crosby not really news? When the Pittsburgh Penguins superstar heads back for a planned meeting with his medical advisors. Seriously, there is like nothing new or nothing confirmed in this short story, but it's the third-most read story on the Tribune-Review's website as I write this. [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]
- Meet the enemy, part the first: Our friends over at Canes Country offer their take on what to look for in today's oddly-timed afternoon start. [Canes Country]
- Meet the enemy, part the second: The Hurricanes have been one of many teams looking for new parts of an ownership group, and those recent investors were named on Friday. [News & Observer]
- Around the Pacific Division, the losers: Teemu Selanne lost his mind, then the Anaheim Ducks lost the game 5-0 to the Detroit Red Wings. The Los Angeles Kings allowed the Pittsburgh Penguins to score the game-tying goal in the final three minutes before falling 3-2 in the shootout. And the San Jose Sharks let a 3-1 third period lead slip away in a 4-3 loss to the Nashville Predators. [Yahoo/Yahoo/San Jose Mercury-News]
- Around the Pacific Division, the winner: The Phoenix Coyotes scored two goals in the second period and never looked back in a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. [Edmonton Journal]
- Another awesome goalie mask for Movember, this one from Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins. [Puck Daddy]
- The only post-practice video from today is coach Glen Gulutzan, who talks about the rationale of having practice on a travel day, especially the day after most players probably went up and down the ice more than they have this season.