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Dallas Stars Daily Links: Has Brett Ritchie Found The Role Of A Lifetime?

Posted on by Kathleen Tibbetts

The Dallas Stars’ 5-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets Saturday was pretty satisfying from several different perspectives. One of them was the way Brett Ritchie stood up for his teammates with some heavy physical play and a notable fight with Adam Lowry.

It demonstrated why Ritchie has earned his spot with the big team, writes Mike Heika:

“I can’t say enough about what [he] did,” [head coach Jim] Montgomery said. “On the bench, you could feel it. It had everyone talking about it, going to high-five him or congratulate him or thank him. It’s a big part of building a team. What he did, the value of it, you can’t underestimate.”

…

A second-round pick from 2011, Ritchie saw his point production drop from 24 (16 goals, eight assists) in 2016-17 to 14 last season (seven goals, seven assists). He was unremarkable during training camp and looked like he might be losing a regular spot in the lineup to Roope Hintz or Denis Gurianov.

But Ritchie had a nice fight in the preseason finale against Colorado and has been solid in his two regular season games. He’s adding not only the fighting element, but a big (6-foot-4, 220 pounds) power forward game that’s been very noticeable.

There’s more at Mike’s place. [Dallas Stars]

Stars Stories

Elsewhere in Heika, he puts his finger on the pulse of the average online Stars fan.

Josh Bogorad provided a nice summary of opening weekend.

Don’t look now, but hockey minds everywhere are noticing.

And the NHL has some fun facts about Jamie Benn’s big Saturday night milestone:

Around the League(s)

Over the weekend, in #Death:

  • Viktor Arvidsson scored twice as the Nashville Predators took down the New York Islanders, 4-3. [On The Forecheck]
  • The Chicago Blackhawks beat the St. Louis Blues 5-4 in overtime behind Jonathan Toews’ fifth career hat trick. [NHL]
  • John Tavares scored three times as the Hawks lost in OT to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 7-6. [Second City Hockey]
  • The Vegas Golden Knights wore down Devan Dubnyk and the Minnesota Wild in a 2-1 shootout. [Hockey Wilderness]
  • Who else has a perfect season so far? The Colorado Avalanche, who beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2 at home. [Mile High Hockey]/

Andrei Svechnikov became the first player born in the 2000s to score an NHL goal as his Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers on Sunday.

The Battle of California becomes the battle of the IR lists: Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick goes down with an injury sustained in practice…

…while San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton gets a “precautionary” benching due to swelling in his knee.

More bad news from the opposite coast: The Florida Panthers have put goalie Roberto Luongo on IR, too:

If you’re keeping an eye on the NCAA, THN’s Ryan Kennedy has you covered. Find out where he ranks Stars prospects Riley Tufte and Jake Oettinger.

Greetings From Scenic Cedar Park

The Texas Stars won one and lost one, both in overtime, during their own opening weekend at home.

Former T-Stars stalwart Greg Rallo, now a Milwaukee Admirals assistant coach, talked about how it felt to come back to H-E-B Center.

If you’re in Austin Metro, or can get there, you still have time to plan your month around this.

Finally

Remember NHL ’94? Even if you weren’t born yet, you probably do. The Hockey News gives you the inside story of how a classic title came together. Enjoy.

Talking Points