Dallas Stars Daily Links: Mattias Janmark Hasn’t Missed a Beat

Two years ago, Mattias Janmark was a pleasant surprise for the Stars. Having been received as a piece in the trade that sent Erik Cole to the Detroit Red Wings the previous season, the Stars’ plan was to get him some reps in camp and then have him return to Sweden for the season. Janmark’s skill and determination caused the Stars front office to shift their plan, however; and he became an important part of the Stars getting the number one seed in the West that year. The future was bright for Janmark. Before he could continue to build on his impressive rookie campaign with Dallas, however, he was dealt a pretty serious blow:

An MRI revealed that Janmark was, indeed, correct. It was not good.

In fact, it was beyond not good.

The test revealed a preexisting genetic condition in the knee joint called Osteochondritis dissecans, in which cracks appear in the cartilage and underlying bone had worsened and would require surgery to repair.

Worse, a procedure had virtually no comparable when it came to pro athletes and how the recovery might go.

In addition to the physical aspect of Janmark’s injury, he also had to deal with the uncertainty of not knowing whether he would ever be able to return to the rink and perform like he knew he was capable of. After a lengthy and grueling recovery and rehab process, he finally felt like he was physically ready for the NHL again, though he must have been quite nervous about something happening to his knee again. Everything has proceeded as planned so far this year though, and his teammates have really taken notice:

Heading into the trade deadline, Janmark has not missed a game and his effectiveness, his creativity, have all started to become more and more apparent on a nightly basis.

”After 15-20 games, he really took off and he felt good, and that gives you confidence that your knee is going to be able to be strong to hold up for the whole season,” countryman John Klingberg said. Now, beyond the team’s prominent forwards -- Benn, Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov -- “he’s probably the main guy who’s stepping up and being one of the best players on the team,” Klingberg added.

See more over at Scott’s place. [NHL]

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Stars Stuff

Big Gulps, huh? Welp, see you later! Sean Shapiro has an interesting (but very spot on) analogy for the Stars’ strategy at the trade deadline:

Stars writers were really feeling the offbeat comparisons yesterday (not a bad thing). Anytime anyone brings up Jimmy Dugan I am 100% in; I love that movie so much:

I’m very jealous of Glenn James’ job:

Here is your Miro fix for the day:

Curt Fraser doesn’t get a ton of publicity, but he is vital to the Stars success:

I know Valentines Day is already over but you can still get your significant other a romantic gift through the end of February:

Sorry for the double ad but this is for a great cause:

Around the League

Down Goes Brown put a bow on the weekend and brought up which teams might start trusting the process and begin to maybe possibly not give themselves the best chance to win every night from here on out. As a Mavs fan, I can empathize with their fanbases:

Shouldn’t it be “I put my work skates on?”:

Bad news for the Avalanche. [ESPN]

Mediocre to bad teams don’t usually get this kind of coverage (unless they’re the Cowboys, Lakers, or Yankees):

At least they got one thing right:

A little advanced scouting on the Stars’ Wednesday night opponent:

Yeah, that sounds about right:

BLOCKBUSTER TRADE ALERT!:

And some juicy rumors. [Puck Daddy]

Olympics update: This isn’t hockey related but I am very into this idea: