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Dallas Stars Daily Links: Tyler Seguin, Two-Time (and Multi-Dimensional) All-Star

The constant bright spot this season has been Tyler Seguin. Even when the Stars were camping out next to the fig preserves in the Western Conference cellar, fans could always draw upon the league’s frequent lead goal-scorer to find a bit of moist elation with which to enliven their eyes during any hockey conversation with that cute fan watching the game two stools down at Joe’s Bar and Drinkery. I think we’ve all been there, right?

“But how about that Seguin kid, eh? Can you believe he’s only 19 or whatever? Yeah, Boston sucks, huh? Will you marry me? Oh, sorry sir, no, I was talking to the person right behind–no, I wasn’t–what? Yes? No, not you, I wasn’t proposing to…..well, yes, I will have another Juke-til-you-puke-in-your-toque on the rocks, actually. Thanks! But hey, how ’bout that Seguin kid, eh?”

Really though, how about that Seguin? Well, as we shall see today, there are many things about him which people have been noticing. (As if the prolific goals weren’t enough, right?)

Stars center Jason Spezza has been an All-Star twice during his notable career and like the rest of his teammates, he feels No. 91 is more than deserving of representing the Dallas organization at the midseason classic in Columbus later this month.

“Yeah, we’re proud of Segy for the first half of the year that he’s had and I really think the sky’s the limit for him. He’s a competitive kid. He’s got unbelievable talent and I think it’s good that he’s pushing himself and those are big honors,” Spezza said. “It’s not easy to be an All-Star in this league. It’s not easy to score the amount of goals he’s scoring and we’re happy for him. We want to keep him going.”

Besides the progress he’s made in the faceoff circle, Ruff is pleased to see Seguin also continuing to develop several aspects of his defensive game, improvements which the veteran head coach feels have benefited him on both ends of the ice.

“His reads when it comes to once the puck gets up to the point, finding his coverage, is just another area that I think he’s improved at that he’s been able to find that. He’s been able to box out and I think it’s really helped him,” Ruff said.

But while No. 91 is currently tied with Nash for the league lead in goals, as he looks at his performance over the first 42 games of the season, he sees a lot to like, but also sees areas where he’d still like to continue improving.

“Three-quarters good, the last quarter I haven’t been playing as well. I want to get back to playing my 200-foot game and focusing a bit more on the defense,” Seguin said. [Fox Sports]

As always, that is only a portion of the full article, so give it a little ol’ click if you want to read more. I think you do.

Seguin’s defense has been much more noticeable of late, and it’s always satisfying to watch a player improve. As we mused yesterday, it’s tough to accept that an improved 200-foot game might mean fewer donuts; but clearly Seguin is okay with going on a diet if it means he’ll be able to keep up with the other track stars come playoff time. That was supposed to be an analogy about eating healthfully in order to travel farther. You can’t survive solely on donuts, right? I am seriously wondering this, because if you can, well…

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Here are links. I could write anything here, but your avaricious eyes would just skip over it just the same on their way to the tasty hyperlinks of Thursday. That’s not even a technically proper use of the word avarice, but what do you care? You don’t care. You never did. My birthday was yesterday. That was a lie.

Mike Heika wonders if the Ruffling has been the key to the Stars’ recent improvement, or if it has been holding them back. You know, I sometimes worry that I might not aptly summarize one of these, and the original author will get mad saying I misrepresented their article. But I don’t worry about that with Heika because he is far too busy. [DMN]

Marc Methot was not amused at the shoulder-to-head hit he took from Erik Cole on Tuesday. He says he wants to hit him back (cleanly), which I always heard was not allowed in fights and stuff growing up. What happened to turning the other cheek, Marc? [Ottawa Sun]

Here are five surprises from the Stars’ season thus far. I’m not sure Seguin is a surprise per se, but it’s still fun to read these sorts of lists. [Hockey Writers]

Is a goalie competition on the horizon for the Stars? [DMN]

Are the Stars ready to face the Winnipeg Jets before all hope has faded in Manitoba? Is that the right province, even? Do people in Canada really eat every part of an apple? These questions, kind of answered! [CBS Sports]

It turns out Benn’s injury is supposedly unrelated to his blocking a shot. Also, Ruff may just start Anders Lindback again. [DMN]

The latest on the Minnesota disaster: Ryan Suter has been suspended two games for elbowing Steve Downie, Minnesota has traded a third-round pick to Arizona in exchange for Devan Dubnyk, and nobody there has any idea what to do. Some of these Ryan Suter quotes really remind me of the Stars in November. [Star Tribune]

Martin Brodeur is taking a week off to re-assess his career. Could this be the end? [St. Louis Game Time]

Petry/Sekera is the new Edward/Jacob, I’m pretty sure. Which one of these delightful defensemen do you covet? Both of them? Sigh. AVARICIOUS EYES. [TSN]

Are the lucky Ducks really going to be ready for the playoffs? [Puck Daddy]

Well, they should probably figure out why they’re healthy-scratching their leading goal scorer first. [Twitter]

And, come on, the Arizona trade is really more like a Devan Dubnyk for Connor McDavid trade, right? Dubnyk was disappeared because he was getting in the way. We get it. [Five for Howling]

Jack Johnson’s parents are awful. Deadspin has more details on one of the saddest stories of this year. Try to look at the picture of Jack Sr.’s Ferrari without retching. [Deadspin]

PEDs aren’t just for indignant baseball hall of fame voters anymore! Brad Ross of the Toronto Marlies has been suspended for 20 games. [CBC]

Finally, here is a picture of Jason Dickinson learning how to read. No, I’m kidding, he already knows how, of course!

Talking Points