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With all of Ruff's talk about starting out on a winning note, the Stars sure did that in a big way on Sunday evening. For the first 5 minutes anyway.
A powerplay on the first shift, resulting in a goal by Erik Cole, and a couple minutes later Kevin Connauton chipped in with a goal, albeit on a weak shot from the blue line. Unfortunately the Stars must have focused too much on having that good start, and failed to prepare for the other 55 minutes of the game.
Not that I should really say that. St Louis had the best of play for the remainder of the 1st period, but the teams traded opportunities and goals through the rest of the game, with the Stars eventually falling in a shootout. Takeaways from the game include rave reviews of John Klingberg, playing in his only pre-season game before returning to Sweden, and our new hero, Valeri Nichushkin, scoring two goals in his debut on NHL ice. I'm putting a lot of expectation on Sergei Gonchar's shoulders, to acclimate Nichushkin and perhaps give him some hints on defensive responsibility, ahem, but the palpable sense of excitement whenever he touches the puck, such as I can garner through Twitter feeds and training camp videos anyway, is enough to make me a believer.
And not just about Nichu. Gleaned this from the St Louis Game Time game thread in response to the Erik Cole goal: 'Unfortunate - kind of assumed that top line the Stars were rolling would be a pain in the ass.'
Looking forward to many more comments of a similar nature as the season progresses.
But anyway, Mark Stepneski has the full recap of the game over at Inside Edge, and at Sports Day DFW, Mike Heika wasn't too disappointed with the loss.
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Heika has a good piece on the journey of Scott Glennie and his maturation as he works in hopes of a 4th line roster spot to begin the year. [DMN]
Reilly Smith has been practicing on the Bruins' third line and may have a shot to stick there. [Boston Globe]
"In the end, I know I made wrong choices and bad decisions," Tyler Seguin told USA Today. "But the things I won't man up to are things that aren't true." [USA Today]
A run down here of the top players who will be skating for new teams this year. Takes me back to those brief exciting minutes this summer when Vincent Lecavalier was still unsigned... [NHL.com]
One of the changes for the upcoming season that I didn't know too much about, here are some details on new net dimensions and how that may affect play. [The Washington Post]
So it may not be Dallas Stars news, but it is Stars news. My old local team off to a good start this season. What? You guys don't follow the English National Ice Hockey League? Division II? [Oxford City Stars]
Nice story about NHL hockey in the tiny town of Belleville, Ontario, the Caps and Jets playing to a packed house of 3,000. [The Globe and Mail]
Obviously a fake. [NHL.com]
And while there may not have been a television broadcast of the game, we do at least have some video highlights. Look at that green! Poppin'! [Stars TV]