Dallas Stars

[NoWayOut]

Hey, Noway (or anyone), I see Ruff is going back to PP scheme he started year with. I have Hemsky and have fingers crossed he gets another chance on PP#1 and with Spez on 2nd line, which rotoworld speculated would happen when Nichushkin returns. However, they had goose eggs last nite, so wondering how that PP looked and whether Hemsky did his part, created chances, or fell on his face?

Perhaps respond after game tonight? I'm trying to decide whether to gamble and put up Hemsky over Palat, who has a reasonable amount of points but is off the Stamkos line and getting secondary PP time. I realize this would be a huge and perhaps dumb gamble given how awful Hemsky has been, whereas Palat has been a steady producer for the entire calendar year. But Dallas has 3 home games this week, TB just one.

Ruff has, or maybe now it's had, gone back to the 4F/1D PP but frankly once again it hasn't looked as near as good as the 3F/2D. Hemsky just isn't clicking on that first unit and that's why when they ditch it they bring in Goli and send Hemsky back to PP2. He's looked a bit better when he's been with the second PP but you see where that's gotten him. At even strength he's had plenty of moments where he's looked good and like it was matter of time until he broke the ice and still nada. I wouldn't use him at all until he shows something. The Stars secondary scoring has been hot and cold so even once he gets lined back up with Spezza don't get your hopes up for a quick reversal of fortune.

[blayze]

This is depressing. Stars can't seem to get any traction this season.

[NoWayOut]

This is depressing. Stars can't seem to get any traction this season.

Yep. They still have plenty of things to sort through, not just in any one area either.

One thing I heard from Daryl Reaugh during the broadcast was his assessment that lately all it takes is a bit of adversity and the Stars just start floundering. Sometimes they can right the ship, the game in Pittsburgh is exhibit A. But then you have games like tonight. Poor show of leadership from the Captain in this one. That first penalty against Benn was bogus but the subsequent penalties were pure frustration on his part. They, and he in particular, can't be doing that on the road in what was still a close game at the time of the second penalty. That's not a knock on his Captaincy but a sign of the growth and maturation left for Jamie and all the younger guys to progress through.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. They still have a bright future but nights like this point out there is still a long way to go before they can truly be called much more than a bubble team. A reminder that the learning curve is steeper than we thought after the first week or two.

[blayze]

Yep. They still have plenty of things to sort through, not just in any one area either.

One thing I heard from Daryl Reaugh during the broadcast was his assessment that lately all it takes is a bit of adversity and the Stars just start floundering. Sometimes they can right the ship, the game in Pittsburgh is exhibit A. But then you have games like tonight. Poor show of leadership from the Captain in this one. That first penalty against Benn was bogus but the subsequent penalties were pure frustration on his part. They, and he in particular, can't be doing that on the road in what was still a close game at the time of the second penalty. That's not a knock on his Captaincy but a sign of the growth and maturation left for Jamie and all the younger guys to progress through.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. They still have a bright future but nights like this point out there is still a long way to go before they can truly be called much more than a bubble team. A reminder that the learning curve is steeper than we thought after the first week or two.

I think what they need is a mature leader who has some credibility as a winner, can set a good example, bring some professionalism and work ethic. Guys with the character of Toews, Sakic, Yzerman, Crosby, etc. Benn has the potential but he's too young, and as talented as Seguin is, I can't see him being a good leader (I see him more as a Kane type guy). Spezza obviously doesn't fit the mold. They just don't have that calming presence right now that the guys can rally around in tough situations.

That and their defense remains atrocious.

[Big Ev]

Hemsky was injured tonight. That contract is looking dumber and dumber.

[larrylintz]

so another tough nite No Way? Did Ruff break up the big line as promised?

[NoWayOut]

Ruff did go with Nichuskin with Benn/Seguin and Spezza centered Hemsky/Cole. I didn't watch the game as much as I listened to it. I did have the TV next to the computer on but I was more focused on working on updates for the Stars prospects page. With that said what little I did watch seemed to coincide with Eakin's line being on ice. They had loads of jump going and seemed to be playing really well, but aside from that I only caught the odd bits and pieces, like Trevor Lewis making Jordie Benn look the fool which Jordie does well on his own most of the time.

On the subject of the prospects, lots of profiles will be updated tonight and a new profile will be submitted for Cole Ully and should be published in the next 24 hours or so. I'll look at the Top 10 list though I don't see any major changes I want/need to make at the moment. The list that was posted over the summer, not sure who's it was, looks pretty good right now.

I've got a few other new profiles that are planned and will be done throughout November namely Dmitry Sinitsyn, Branden Troock, and Niklas Hansson. Possibly goalies Brent Moran and Henri Kiviaho, though Moran is more likely to be done then Kiviaho. As always any thoughts, comments, questions, etc. on the prospects are welcome and I will do my best to answer if I can, post away right here.

[NoWayOut]

Well the big list of updates wasn't so big after all. I started to fall into the old trap of just rehashing stats so I pulled the plug on a bunch of updates while I go back and dig deeper for more substantive info. So with that in mind I am going to hit reset and start those updates over.

[blayze]

I've gotta say, like many I was excited about the Stars at the beginning of the season, but I'm starting to believe these defensive deficiencies will be an ongoing issue for the rest of the year.

[larrylintz]

agree w last post. I noticed this morning Spezza is on pace for a plus-minus worse than last year's awful total. I feel Stars will have same fate as Sens did last year, perhaps worse given Stars in much tougher conference. the upside is, noticing this early means i'm making sure i have borderline players active when they face Dallas.

[NoWayOut]

I think we all got too excited after that performance against Chicago in the opener and the comeback against the Pens. That Hawks game built up a lot of false hope that the D had maybe turned a corner. The next game against Nashville should have been heeded as an omen. Not only that Lindback was likely to be another in a long line of failed backups, but that maybe the D wasn't as good as it appeared on opening night. In hindsight we can see that Chicago's offense wasn't clicking on all cylinders to start and that was the reason the D looked so good. Steve Laidlaw actually asked a question something along those lines right after the game, so at least one person saw through the surface image to what the real picture was underneath.

Lots of areas still need addressing, secondary scoring, defense, and a competent backup goalie. The Stars have plenty of promising players in the pipeline, but none are truly elite or game changers. Ritchie should be a good 2nd line winger in time. McKenzie is in that mix too, but could also get pigeon-holed in a role in the bottom-six. Lots of good D prospects as well, especially in the defensive role, but we all know how long it takes for D-men to develop most of the time. Campbell is still a ways off before moves up to the second chair in Dallas, but word is he's finally made peace with the fact that he's not going to make it to the big show as fast as he thought he would/should early on. Naturally that helps since he's more focused on improving his game and not so worried about why he isn't in Dallas yet. Rynnas didn't beat out Lindback in camp so that says a lot about his odds of making a difference as Kari's backup.

The up shot of all that, the old cliche about Rome not being built in a day. The Stars can't get from where they were just two years ago, to where we thought they were heading just a month ago, so quickly. It's going to require patience and time to assemble all the pieces and that expectations need a bit of re-adjusting. The reality is they are an improving team but not as far along the path as maybe we thought and still with plenty of growing pains ahead. As they continue to get better, Dallas should become a more attractive spot for free agents to come and play which will help fill in some of those deficiencies.

[larrylintz]

I wonder if Hemsky gets a shot with Seguin and Benn at some point, and they try Nichushkin with Spezza? I don't know what Nich's defensive game is like but maybe it'd help to get a bigger body there to bang around and get some pucks loose for Spez. Also, Hemsky and Spez worked well last year as we all know but Hemsky has never been a great finisher, not sure he's the right guy to take advantage of Spez's amazing passing skills. Here's a piece on Ruff's need for 2 strong lines: http://www.todaysslapshot.com/nhl-we...o-second-line/

[NoWayOut]

Larry, I guess they could try that. I mean they've put Hemsky with just about everybody else. Still I think they are best off to leave him with Spezza and let Nichuskin continue to work on gelling with Benn and Seguin.

-Kind of a bold change by Ruff on the top power play unit...

Antoine Roussel to top power play unit

I really like this move. Roussel is a first class pain-in-the-ass for opponents and he will soak up it and dish it out in front of the net. He won't make life easy for goalies that's for sure, even if he's not one scoring the goals.

-Good read from Mike Heika....

Thursday Chat with Mike Heika

Not sure if I really want to record this one and watch it when I get home from work tomorrow morning. Ahhh hell, who am I kidding, I'll tape it but not getting my hopes up too high for a happy ending. Really want one though. It would be the perfect start to the weekend, so we'll see what happens....

[Tobias Funke]

Maddeningly underachieving team right now.

[NoWayOut]

Damn the Stars are starting to look snake bit. Nichuskin is apparently still not healed from whatever this hip/groin issue is, he left practice early today because of it. Eakin's not looking good for tomorrow night either. Another casualty of holding out, can't rule it out. I haven't watched the game yet but from what I've read Ruff was getting very creative out of necessity. Hemsky with Benn and Spezza, Seguin with Roussel and Eaves. With all that said here's the link to Mike Heika's latest....

http://starsblog.dallasnews.com/2014...780ec6342d4efe