Two Dallas Stars played in their first NHL games in Saturday’s season finale against the St. Louis Blues, and defenseman Brenden Dillon made an immediate positive impression.
Dillion, who was signed as an undrafted free agent out of the WHL last year, tied for the team lead in blocked shots and hits in a little less than 20 minutes of ice time. Paired with Trevor Daley for most of the night, he also had a team-high six shots on goal.
And as you might expect, there were a few early jitters, but nothing that bothered him for too long.
“It was good. I got the nerves out early,” Dillon said. “On my first shift I took a nice little bump in the corner and that gave me a little wake up call, let me know that I’m in an NHL game. As the game went on, I felt really good. Moving the puck, joining the play, had a good couple of hits and stuff. I thought it went well.”
Scott Glennie also made his NHL debut. He played a little less than 10 minutes, took a minor for holding and was credited with two hits.
After the jump, more on the Stars season-ending loss to the Blues, Razor sees bright days ahead and those Benn brothers need to work on their campaign videos for Jamie.
- We’d all been dreading that five-game stretch to end the season, and it was more brutal than we could have predicted. The Stars went 0-5 over that stretch and finished the season in 10th place in the conference. [DallasNews.com]
- This was pretty inevitable without some sort of Easter weekend miracle, but this season’s power play is officially the worst in team history. Ow. [ESPN Dallas]
- The Blues are looking ahead to their first-round series with the San Jose Sharks. I know what color of blue I’m rooting for to win that series, and it ain’t teal. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
- He might not be betting tickets if he’s wrong (at least, not yet), but Razor makes his case for why he believes this franchise is on the right path. [Razor with an Edge]
- What’s up next for the current Stars? Well several of the youngsters will help the Texas Stars wrap up their season, while another handful are likely headed for the World Championships. [DallasNews.com]
- With that whole regular-season business settled, here’s a quick look at your first-round matchups. The first link is the Western Conference, second is the East. [Puck Daddy/Puck Daddy]
- Yet another in a long line of skate cuts and near misses this year. this time Andrew Cogliano had a close encounter with the skate of Mark Giordano. If I remember correctly, Giordano has gotten other guys with his skate this year. Careful with those things. [Backhand Shelf]
- Ferris State tried to make a go of it, but Boston College was simply too much to handle as the Eagles’ 4-1 victory gave them their fifth NCAA men’s hockey title. [ESPN]
- I found this story interesting because it’s so, so easy to forget that the vast majority of hockey players never even sniff the NHL, no matter how big their dreams were or how talented they were as teenagers. At the end of this story, it gets a little preachy for me. The first 2/3 or so recounting the journeys of several former Saskatoon Blades is more than enough. [The StarPhoenix]
- Around the Pacific Division, the playoff impact: You know, if the Stars weren’t going to win the division, I think I like the Phoenix Coyotes more than any of the other possible options. The Yotes clinched their first-ever division title with a 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild and returned home to a crowd of fans at the airport. And the San Jose Sharks needed overtime (what else?) to pick up a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings to finish in seventh. [Arizona Republic/San Jose Mercury News]
- Around the Pacific Division, the playing out the string: The Anaheim Ducks laid an egg to end the season with a 5-2 loss to the Calgary Flames. [Calgary Herald]
- The campaigns for your votes for NHL13 cover boy are awesome. Andrew Ladd’s brothers got in on the act earlier this week, and Scott Hartnell channels his inner politician for this ad. Benn brothers, this is your official notice. I know Jordie Benn wants that dinner from his brother, so he’d better get his YouTube skills cracking. [Backhand Shelf]
- A quick interlude before the final video of the season – this will be the last 2011-12 edition of the daily links, and we will return to the Dallas Stars Quasi-Daily Links over the off-season. It’s been a blast getting to do this all year, even those nights when I’d rather break things than read recaps to summarize them. You might have noticed an uptick in sarcasm those days. But I also wanted to thank all you guys (or in proper Texan terminology, all y’all) for reading and commenting and being generally awesome Stars fans who make this site what it is.
- The last images of the team that we’ll see this season, and a promotion I always wished I was in Dallas to try and win – the jersey off the back promotion. This caused much laughter at my place because Reilly Smith is quickly joining the Philip Larsen club of players destined to be carded until they’re 40.