Dallas Stars

[PrairieDog]

Because of this thread I picked up Klingberg as a FA in 3 of my dynasty leagues about 1 year ago.



Thank you!

[rangerfan2430]

Klingberg? Who's this Klingberg guy everyone's talking about? Never heard of him lol

[NoWayOut]

Hopefully you're being facetious, but just in case...

... I'll remind you that Bob Gainey maneuvered the Stars into the Pacific after the move to Dallas because it was the weakest division (at that time), so he believed that the Stars would develop into a contender there much more quickly. (And he was right, they did.)

However, you know the saying about "God laughs at the man who plans"? Eventually Anaheim, LA, and San Jose all got good while Dallas has a huge drop-off in talent, and now you're stuck with all these games that even the fans won't watch because a) they're over at 12:30 (or later), and b) the Stars end up losing a good number of them.

So the moral of this story if there is one, is that you're always going to be better off in the long term being in the division where you geographically belong, because those good teams aren't always going to be better than you and those bad teams won't always be worse.

That comment was made with tongue firmly planted in cheek. It's just acknowledgement of how murderously tough the Central is. The Pacific would be an easier route to the playoffs, and a team or even two from the Central may be staying home just due to the way things are structured at the moment. But there is something to be said for forging a team in the crucible that is our Division. If the Stars continue to grow, learn, and mature they're going to be a better and tougher team for it.

They still have a lot to learn and improve on even with the great start, but those things are fixable and coachable. There is plenty to look forward to this season and beyond.

And lastly, PD, your welcome sir!

[NoWayOut]

Just saw the score scroll by on the tv in the break room at work....no sense wasting two hours of my life on that when I get home...delete it and get on with my day.

[MarmotKing]

Wow, there goes my gamble of playing Niemi this week.

[NoWayOut]

No changes coming tonight. Ruff rolling out the same lines as he had in Boston, per Mike Heika...

Benn-Seguin-Spezza
Janmark-Eakin-Sharp
Roussel-Fiddler-Sceviour
Shore-Faksa-Nichushkin

Hemsky out again with the recovery issues from the offseason hip surgery. No shock there. It was only a matter of time....

[NoWayOut]

Hemsky did get the start, Roussel was the scratch. I'm on my phone at the moment and don't have Twitter open to see what happened there.

[NoWayOut]

Ok, seems Roussel is now day-to-day with an undisclosed UBI. Not sure when it happened, but it seemed to take Mike Heika and Mark Stepneski by surprise. No hint from either until warmups.

[NoWayOut]

No morning skate today, so here are the lines from yesterday's skate...

Benn-Seguin-Hemsky
Janmark-Eakin-Spezza
Roussel-Fiddler-Sceviour
Shore-Faksa-Nichushkin

Roussel may be back after being a late scratch in Carolina Friday night. Still no word on Sharp, but here's a bit from Mike Heika on how lines might shake out....

Well, the problem is that Hemsky played left wing on a line with Fiddler and Sceviour against Carolina, and it appears Roussel "most likely" will play Sunday. So then Hemsky's performance Friday seems somewhat moot. So if Roussel and Sharp are both ready, could Hemsky sit out? That seems a possibility because of the nagging hip soreness.

"He's still struggling through the hip stuff," Ruff said. "He has treatment every day and I think that has affected him, but at the same time we have to win games."

All of this leads to the discussion that Ruff is pretty much changing his lines every game. Jason Spezza is playing out of position on the right wing right now and jumped from the Seguin line to the Eakin line Friday, but he said that's fine. Hemsky might play the right side with Seguin and Benn or the left side with Sceviour and Fiddler. Roussel might go back on the Fiddler line or could slide to the kid line and push Devin Shore to a healthy scratch.

That's life as a Stars follower.

As I type this Mike Heika tweeted that all 13 forwards will skate in warmups and then a decision will be made as to who sits.

[NoWayOut]

Mike Heika ‏@MikeHeika 9m9 minutes ago
Stars lines in warm-ups:

Benn-Seguin-Sharp
Janmark-Eakin-Spezza
Hemsky-Fiddler-Sceviour
Shore-Faksa-Nichushkin

Looks like Roussel is out again.

[notch4077]

Klingberg just walked the entire line and drew 4 Wings to him before dishing a perfect feed to Sharp for an easy one-timer. Grape.

[VincentVega]

Mike Heika ‏@MikeHeika 9m9 minutes ago
Stars lines in warm-ups:

Benn-Seguin-Sharp
Janmark-Eakin-Spezza
Hemsky-Fiddler-Sceviour
Shore-Faksa-Nichushkin

Looks like Roussel is out again.

Any word on why? Injured or healthy scratch?

[NoWayOut]

Any word on why? Injured or healthy scratch?

I haven't heard an exact cause, just the generic UBI designation. Supposedly happened in the Bruins game and I'm guessing it flared up near game time on Friday as the scratch in Carolina seemed to catch both Heika and Stepneski off guard.

[NoWayOut]

I'm not watching the game, taping it to watch later, but keeping tabs on score. Seems Val has his first of the season. Really seems to be gaining confidence skating on the "Kid" line with Shore and Faksa. Razor had a good observation the other night that Val is playing better with his peers as he doesn't seem to feel the need to be deferential to veteran players. That's been one of his issues, passing when he has the good look for a shot, because he feels he should defer to the others.

[Big Ev]

Nice to see the better goalie getting the starts