The Dallas Stars selection of goalie Jack Campbell in the first round of the 2010 draft remains controversial among some fans.
All you have to do is mention Campbell’s name to get some people on a rant about selecting a goalie in the first round and passing up the opportunity to draft Cam Fowler.
And while Campbell hasn’t lit the world on fire with his play in juniors, at least one person isn’t worried about him at this point. Justin Goldman, who describes himself as an independent pro goalie scout and runs The Goalie Guild, had a lengthy interview with Jonathan Willis of the Edmonton Journal for a blog that ran Thursday.
The first part of the blog is about prospect Andrei Vasilevski, who is eligible for the 2012 draft. But about halfway through, it flips over to a discussion about Campbell. Here’s a sampling of what Goldman has to say about the Stars prospect.
From my perspective, statistics and game-to-game performances in the OHL isn’t the focus. All that matters to me is how much he learns, and how much he experiences during his time in juniors. I’d rather him face adversity, learn what it’s like to lose, what it takes to win, how to work harder than everyone else on the ice, and essentially, just mature as a goalie and a human being.
After the jump, more on the Stars 4-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets and today’s game against the Buffalo Sabres, another player joins Twitter and a decent night for scoreboard watching if you were a Stars fan.
- The intensity wasn’t quite consistent, as Mike Heika details in this paywalled gamer, but it was at least better, especially early. [DallasNews.com]
- Its wasn’t the cleanest game they’ve played all season, particularly the penalty-filled second period, but it was a pretty solid effort for the most part. [ESPN Dallas]
- Apparently the Stars really like injuring the Blue Jackets this year. Jared Boll was left with a broken foot, likely from blocking a Sheldon Souray shot. And in worse news for the Jackets, defenseman Marc Methot is likely out for the season after Tomas Vincour broke his jaw with that shot to the face that resulted in the Alex Goligoski rebound goal. [Puck-Rakers Blog]
- Our friends over at The Cannon offer their well-balanced take on the game, even if they don’t like Steve Ott or Jamie Benn’s neck very much. [The Cannon]
- NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was in Columbus on Thursday to talk about the 2013 All-Star Game, where Benn will attempt to break four targets with two of Patrick Kane’s trick pucks. He also talked a little bit about realignment and the possibility of a Winter Classic involving Dallas. [DallasNews.com]
- We would like to welcome shootout trick shot overlord Mike Ribeiro to Twitter at @Ribz63. Obviously, his teammates welcomed him with open arms and comments on his grammar. [Twitter/Twitter]
- Jamie Oleksiak had himself a night, and Brett Ritchie didn’t disappoint either as their Niagra IceDogs routed the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors 11-0 in an OHL game. Oleksiak had four points and was a plus-7 as he played in front of former Stars and The Ticket great Bill Guerin. [The Standard]
- I know you are wondering if Scott Gomez scored for the Montreal Canadiens last night. [DidGomezScore]
- There are plenty of reasons not to like fighting in hockey. The risk of concussion for the fighters, though, is not a good one since fighting in hockey carries much less risk of concussion than, well, just playing hockey. [Backhand Shelf]
- Mike Babcock and Brian Burke might seem like great candidates for 24/7 as they’re key figures in the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs who will play in the next Winter Classic. But both sound like they’re going to be spoilsports about the whole thing. [Puck Daddy]
- Meet the enemy, part the first: The Buffalo Sabres are coming off a most impressive 6-0 victory over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday. Here’s the numbers our friends over at Die By The Blade put together from that game. [Die By The Blade]
- Meet the enemy, part the second: For the first time that I can remember, Lindy Ruff will not be behind the bench for tonight’s game. The Sabres coach is recovering from friendly fire broken ribs. In his place, assistant James Patrick, Stars foe from the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals I do believe, has been the acting bench coach with help from several others, including former Stars defensemen Teppo Numminen. [Buffalo News]
- Around the Pacific Division, the games: It wouldn’t be complete night with at least one of the pack going to overtime, and unfortunately for the Stars, it was the game where they wanted both teams to lose. The Phoenix Coyotes defeated the Calgary Flames 2-1 in overtime. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Kings still can’t buy more than one goal and fell 3-1 to the Florida Panthers. [Calgary Herald/Los Angeles Times]
- Around the Pacific Division, the sales drama: Also on the Coyotes radar is that interminable sale process. On Thursday, it was announced that former player and friend-of-all-things-Mike Modano Jeremy Roenick, was part of a group interested in buying the team. [Arizona Republic]
- Other scoreboard watching: The Vancouver Canucks started a little slow but did the Stars a big favor with their 5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild. And while the Nashville Predators are still comfortably ahead of the pack, they also fell 4-3 to the Ottawa Senators. [St. Paul Pioneer-Press/CBC.ca]
- Todd knows exactly who to bring in to fix some of the compete issues the Stars have dealt with. [Thursday Morning Cupcheck]
- No. 81 in your roster but No. 1 in Josh Lile’s heart, Tomas Vincour meets the media after the game and talks about playing with Jamie Benn and Steve Ott on a scoring line.