Dallas Stars

[NoWayOut]

With Kari shelved for the time being and Lindy saying he expects a call up from Cedar Park being made, Mark Stepneski is reporting that Jack Campbell may be that call up. So far in 5 games this season it's been ugly for Campbell, 2-3 with ratios of 3.97 and .877. Eep!! Here's hoping Niemi shakes last night off and is ready to go back-to-back, though in the article below Ruff is quoted as saying he won't commit to playing Niemi in both games.

Here's a link to Stepneski's article...

http://stars.nhl.com/club/news.htm?i...medium=twitter

[rangerfan2430]

Maybe they'll claim Ortio off waivers. They could use another goalie

[NoWayOut]

Maybe they'll claim Ortio off waivers. They could use another goalie

They damn sure need somebody, or more than some warm bodies, in the goalie pipeline. Jack Campbell just can't get over the hump and looks more and more like lost cause. At this point with him the Stars will be lucky to get a completely and thoroughly average backup. After him there's really nobody you can point to and say there is the future after Kari. And they only have three years, counting this one, to find and groom someone if they intend to stay in house. That right there is the one glaring weakness in the Stars farm system. At this point if they look to the draft, a plan fraught with peril, they'll need a bridge goalie to get them through until that guy can develop. And that relies on a lot of faith in position that's as fickle as any in sports in regards to prospects panning out.

[NoWayOut]

It's funny, Dallas can boast the nearly perfect primer of how-to/how-not-to run a pro-sports franchise. We as Dallas sports fans know all too well the perils of a meddling, megalomaniac owner who refuses delegate authority for fear that outsiders won't lavish him with all the credit and glory for his team's success. An owner who is a symbol of all the organization's internal rot.

Then you have Tom Gaglardi who gets it. He sets the tone as the owner, he identifies people who embrace his vision, know their business, and then steps back and lets them go about that business without interference. All he asks is to buy into his vision and perform your job at the highest level you can. And he's done an outstanding job with the front office he's assembled. Don't think we're going to be hearing Norm Hitzges going off on any rants against Gaglardi and company like he did on Jerry Jones. While it's another gut-punch season for Cowboy's fans with little hope of a turnaround in sight, we at least have the Stars that we can embrace as the face of sports in Dallas. Yeah that's a nearly impossible battle in football obsessed Texas, but still they are something to be proud of.

Alright down to business....well there really isn't much. Same lines as the last 4 or 5 games:

Benn-Seguin-Sharp
Janmark-Spezza-Eaves
Roussel-Eakin-Nichushkin
Sceviour-Fiddler-Hemsky

Goli-Klinger
Oduya-Demers
Jokipakka-Benn

Niemi

That stretch without changes to the forwards might be a Ruff Record. Biggest lesson the Stars had to learn after the Sens game is not to get too cute. All night the Sens had the center of the ice plugged up and yet the Stars kept trying to force zone exits through the middle instead of taking it up the boards and then setting up and working into the middle of the ice. The Stars have the ability to be lethal from the perimeter and force opponents to loosen up the middle to come out and try to cover. They've responded well after bad games all season so I expect them to bring it tonight.

[NoWayOut]

On the broadcast Razor said Spezza gave him a homework assignment, look up their PP% when they get 3+ or 2 or fewer. Razor said the answer was 31% when they get 3+, a mere 6% when they get 2 or fewer. Guess what....2-for-3 tonight.

It won't show on the scoresheet, but Klingberg has three points tonight. Two assists on the PP goals and one on a horrible, ill-advised no-look-behind-the-back centering pass deep in the Stars end. Daniel Sedin with the easy goal. In all seriousness Klingberg should have two assists, but at the moment they have Sharp with the primary assist on Benn's goal which I didn't see where Sharp had any contact. Maybe Sharp did, but I thought Seguin should have the primary assist and Klingberg the secondary. Either way....who really cares, right? It's still a Stars goal!

Still having issues with turnovers as a team, but Niemi has been electric so far. Not that he was as bad against the Sens as the stats say, he was put in positions just like the Sedin goal tonight where unless your vintage Roy in his prime your just hung out to dry.

[NoWayOut]

Damn, Nichushkin has been stone cold robbed by Miller at least twice, three times.

[NoWayOut]

What f-ing game are these zebras watching? It's not the one that's actually taking place in Dallas. The last three penalties against the Stars have been as head scratch worthy as you can imagine.

- - - Updated - - -

The refs got what they wanted, they got the Canucks back in this one.

[NoWayOut]

5-0 after losses this season. Train keeps rolling.

[NoWayOut]

I'll just post this link to Defending Big D's short, sweet, and to the point wrap-up of the Stars win. Said it better than I ever could.

[rataylor22]

Sharp tipped Seguin's shot, which then hit Benn's shin pads. FWIW.

[larrylintz]

Hey No Way, first time on this thread this year because i sadly was unable (because i wasn't at draft, someone picked for me) to draft Stars this year even though they are one of my fave teams other than the Sens.
The two teams ahead of me naturally each have one of the Benn-Sequin duo, but i was finally able to snag a Star in a trade, getting Sharp last week. Of course i'm worried he'll permanently lose his spot on the big line and top pp to Nichushkin, and last night -- despite the two points -- i saw something rather alarming just following game on espn box score. Sharp around mid-way through the game had 2.31 minutes on pp, exactly the same as the other four studs. But at the end of the game he still had that amount of time, whereas everyone else including some people who had no business using up pp time had 2x as much as sharp. I was worried he was either injured or benched. Can you explain what happened?
(Main reason I'm asking is, I definitely want a Star to help me withstand nights when the Stars blow out their opponents, but I don't trust Ruff and wonder if i should use these consecutive two-point games to deal him for a more reliable player. I've mused about offering Sharp and something small for Kopitar, for instance, or Stone.)

[NoWayOut]

Hey No Way, first time on this thread this year because i sadly was unable (because i wasn't at draft, someone picked for me) to draft Stars this year even though they are one of my fave teams other than the Sens.
The two teams ahead of me naturally each have one of the Benn-Sequin duo, but i was finally able to snag a Star in a trade, getting Sharp last week. Of course i'm worried he'll permanently lose his spot on the big line and top pp to Nichushkin, and last night -- despite the two points -- i saw something rather alarming just following game on espn box score. Sharp around mid-way through the game had 2.31 minutes on pp, exactly the same as the other four studs. But at the end of the game he still had that amount of time, whereas everyone else including some people who had no business using up pp time had 2x as much as sharp. I was worried he was either injured or benched. Can you explain what happened?
(Main reason I'm asking is, I definitely want a Star to help me withstand nights when the Stars blow out their opponents, but I don't trust Ruff and wonder if i should use these consecutive two-point games to deal him for a more reliable player. I've mused about offering Sharp and something small for Kopitar, for instance, or Stone.)

I wouldn't worry too much Sharp. The way he's playing his spot alongside Benn and Seguin is secure. As strong as Val's play has been of late I think for now he tops out as Spezza's RW, with maybe a shift here or there when Ruff experiments in-game. Sharp's trailing behind in PPTOI last night was thanks in large part to the PP in OT. Since they don't go down to 3-on-2, they go 4-on-3 which was Benn, Seguin, Spezza, and Klingberg which left Sharp as the odd man out. Plus Ruff did experiment late in the game with leaving two of those four out for extended time when he brought the second unit out on the last couple of PP's. I wouldn't worry too much about it, that's life with Lindy. He does like to experiment from time to time, but in the end Sharp has been too good with that first unit to see any serious reduction in PP time on a long term basis.

Edit: I just went back and looked at the PPTOI from last night and Sharp trailed only the big 4 in ice-time. Goli was the closest to Sharp but he had 00:31 less. So yeah Sharp is safe, just a case of odd circumstances.

[NoWayOut]

Leave it to Mike Heika to find a way to perfectly weave an analogy between Snoopy and the Stars....

http://www.sportsdaydfw.com/dallas-s...e-18-5-0-start

Niemi in goal again tonight, most likely. Nemeth in for Jokipakka, most likely. According to Mike, Ruff said changes were possible tonight but that was as specific as Lindy got. Heika is projecting Jokipakka, Oleksiak, and Moen as the scratches. He also noted Neimi worked out off-ice, while both Jack Campbell and Lehtonen were involved in a lengthy skate this morning. Good news for Kari and the Stars. Mike is also saying it looks like Kari is just going to miss this back-to-back and he should be back by Tuesday night's game in Calgary.

[larrylintz]

thanks, that's great. sorry, my eyes deceived me, when i was looking at fiddler i saw his SH TOI and i thought it was PP, that that was weird. Glad to know he's fitting in. My goal at auction was to get sequin, klingberg and sharp so it's painful seeing the first two light it up, esp since in my league i "discovered" him (thanks to this thread) last year about two months before anyone had heard of him. However, when he came up in auction my guy had no money left to pay the paltry price he went for. damn, i would have had karlsson and Kling, I'd be running away with lead.

[NoWayOut]

Good test here for the Stars. Excel is as much a chamber of horrors as Pepsi center in Denver. They've got to play smart here and let the Wild wear themselves out being hyper-aggressive. Teams try this all the time, if the Stars stay poised the aggression will bite the Wild in the ass eventually. Trick is for the Stars to stick to the plan and not get jumpy trying to push things.