You didn’t have to wait long last night to get some good news- About eight minutes, in fact, as the Dallas Stars poured three goals on a shocked St. Louis Blues team early en route to a 4-1 win.
(Lose to Buffalo, beat the Rangers? Lose to Colorado, win IN St. Louis? … But, I digress…)
There was accompanying good news off the ice- Where Tyler Seguin, Patrick Eaves and Ales Hemsky have brought only sorrow, Patrik Nemeth offers an oft-beleaguered blue-line hope in the form of his imminent return.
Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News had this bit of heraldry Tuesday evening…
Patrik Nemeth (lacerated arm) is scheduled to join Texas Stars for Friday game in Rochester and start to make his push to return to NHL.
— Mike Heika (@MikeHeika) February 18, 2015
And he followed it up with some quotes from the happy d-man himself, who is quite pleased to see his season get a second chance.
“I can do everything,” Nemeth told Heika. “James has pushed me pretty hard. Now, it’s just a matter of getting back in and playing a real game and seeing the game and making the right reads. I have to get into game condition, but I feel pretty good. I think it’s more getting up to speed in reading the game.”
So he is physically ready and able, which is exciting. A stint with the Texas Stars now awaits, and then Jim Nill will have a choice to make with his blue line in the next week or two.
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- For Val Nichushkin it will be quite a bit longer- While he has resumed skating he was told by a doctor last Friday that he would need 4-6 weeks more before being in game shape. By then the Stars will be out of it, or perhaps in a dog fight and loathe to introduce a roster shakeup. Either way it’s interesting. [Dallas Morning News]
- A photo surfaced of Dustin Byfuglien giving the finger to Evander Kane after the trade in Winnipeg, and the internet did not try to unearth any context prior to blowing it out of proportion. Puck Daddy recognizes it for what it is- Hockey players just jacking with each other to make the other guy laugh. It’s what men do. [Puck Daddy]
- Speaking of Puck Daddy, Jamie Benn was, predictably, their number-one star last night for his trio of impressive tallies and first career hat-trick [Puck Daddy]
- Jake Allen gave praise to Jamie Benn last night, calling him the most under-rated player in the league in his book [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
- WFAA is posting quotes from Jim Nill you have already seen in USA Today, saying the Stars play leading up to the deadline will dictate the way he views the club’s strategy. [WFAA.com]
- Pro Hockey Talk wonders about Erik Cole and Shawn Horcoff as the news-cycle revolving the trade deadline starts to pick up…. its desire for page views. [Pro Hockey Talk]
- The Sharks lost last night, which is great. According to Fear the Fin, they out-played Nashville and were done in by goaltending and a couple of glaring defensive miscues. Sounds familiar. [Fear the Fin]
- ESPN drags James Wisniewski’s name into the trade conversation. [ESPN]
- Here’s a boo-boo: St. Louis Dispatch has Seguin’s injury at a possible six months as of about midnight Tuesday night. “Then Seguin went down with a knee injury that could sideline for up to six months.”… [St. Louis Dispatch]