Dallas Stars

[NoWayOut]

I'd like to welcome you to the new Dallas Stars thread. My name is Rex, known around these parts as NWO and the music man. Lost among all my talk of music and beer is a love of hockey. I've been a fan of the Detroit Red Wings since 1992, though for most of those years I was more of what you'd call a casual fan. The last three years have seen me become a much more hardcore dedicated fan of the game. Still have a lot to learn, but this is a great way to do just that and give back to the Dobber community at the same time.

I know it seems strange, a Wings fan reporting on the Stars, well there's a good reason beyond the fact that the Wings coverage is in Mac's capable hands. I have connection with all things Texas, well except certain politicians. If not for a bit of unfortunate timing I would have been a Stars fan. They moved to Big D the year after the Red Wings won me over. I wouldn't say I've followed the Stars, but in a way I guess I've always subconsciously been a fan.

The opportunity came up to cover the Stars and I couldn't pass it up. I have some big plans for my coverage as I get settled in, get comfortable, and as my knowledge grows. Also the timing of this couldn't have been better. I've had a fair bit of tunnel vision as it pertains to following hockey. I have been focused on the Wings and to a lesser extent whatever players happen to land on one of my fantasy rosters. This being a quiet time during the offseason gives me a chance to get as familiar with Stars as I am with the Wings.

Like most of the team coverage.....team, I'm not going to be focused solely on the NHL level happenings. I'm going to be devoting plenty of time to the farm system as well. My plan right now is to post a weekly recap of the action with the Texas Stars and notable prospects playing in other leagues each Monday.

With my upcoming move to the night shift at work I will be using the DVR to record all the Stars games so I can watch them after work and offer up my thoughts on each game. On those occasions I'll have my review posted the following afternoon, and on the nights I'm off I'll post shortly after the game.

One area that the move to nights will effect is posting last minute injury and roster updates. I'll be at work by the time the puck drops on the early games, but I will monitor news right up until I leave for work and post anything relevant. If possible I'll monitor things while I'm at work, but that will be difficult given the environment, you know how bosses are.

Anyway guys I'm really looking forward to the responsibility of covering the Stars and keeping with the high standards for the Black Aces team. Bear with me through this early period as I build this up. As time goes on and I gain more knowledge and confidence the content is going to grow proportionally.

[bondon]

Awesome to have you on board Rex, really looking forward to what you're gonna bring.

The Stars look like they're going to be an interesting team this year.

[kevinsrangers]

congrats on your new endevour. hope the best for you and look forward to reading your thoughts.

[sangwich1]

I"ll be intrested in viewing some of your thoughts about the Stars this year. Welcome aboard. Should be interesting this year anyway with the Stars new editions and subtractions. Sure gonna miss the Otter. Don't know if the team is better or worse but time will tell. Looking forward to your postings.

[Instant Karma]

Thanks, NWO. I had thought about starting a sticky myself there for awhile, but I figured it would suffer from neglect.

Go Stars!

[Ross The Boss Palmer]

Bear with me through this early period as I build this up.

I believe you meant beer with you through this early period


Awesome to see, can't wait to read up on the Stars, really enjoy their moves last season and thus far this summer!

[dyzfunctioned]

Personally, I'd rather you devote a column to beer.

but i suppose this will do!

[NoWayOut]

Thanks guys. I'll pour everything I have into this effort and hopefully I can pass on loads of useful information.

I'm still getting up to speed with the comings and goings and the makeup of the Stars. Lots of homework still to do, but it won't take long before I can offer up thoughts on the roster.

Now so far as I go over the past season and take notes one trend caught my eye, the Stars record in back-to-backs. It was pretty dismal to say the least and in particular the back ends. Last year they played 14 back-to-back series, seven of which were entirely on the road. Not a kind break from the schedule makers.

In the front half games they sported a .500 record, 7-7. The back half record was a cataclysmic 1-13 featuring eleven straight losses in those back enders before they recorded the one and only victory.

Let's take a look at a few numbers here. In those front half games the Stars were plus-one in goal differential, thirty goals for as opposed to twenty-nine against. Right on with their record for those games. In the back end games things took a dive. The goal differential was a minus-28, twenty-four goals for and fifty-two against. Plus in seven of those games they surrendered four or more goals against.

You can argue that the majority of those games were with Raycroft and Bachman in goal instead of Lehtonen. While true, the blame can be spread around and not just aimed at the play in goal. With another twelve back-to-backs on tap this year, assuming no lockout and a full slate of games, improvement there is going to be key.

Last year the Stars finished just six points out of the eighth and final playoff spot. Just improving their record to .500 in those second half games would have been valuable points and quite possibly a playoff berth. Another point to consider along those lines. The Stars finished seven points behind the Sharks, and faced the Sharks three times in the second half of back-to-backs. The Stars lost all three and the six points that went to San Jose. That's a big point swing in the standings and what a difference it would/could have made.

I don't mean this to be totally negative. Just by improving in this area a lot of ground can be made up versus the rest of the field. With the Western Conference being fairly wide open this year if they can address this I see reason for optimism.

Hopefully you found this interesting. For me it's back into homework mode.

[NoWayOut]

A strange thing kept happening as I was typing that post. Every time I typed "the Stars" I started out typing "we". In my original post I mentioned that I felt I might subconsciously be a fan. I think I may have to change that and remove the might subconsciously be part. It's weird how naturally I kept typing "we".

Think I might be getting deeply invested already.

[NoWayOut]

I believe you meant beer with you through this early period


Awesome to see, can't wait to read up on the Stars, really enjoy their moves last season and thus far this summer!

Personally, I'd rather you devote a column to beer.

but i suppose this will do!

All that typing and thinking has made me thirsty. Wonder what cure that thirst...

[Axeman33]

Looking forward to your insight NWO! Good luck bud!

[NoWayOut]

Pretty quiet at the moment, one note though. Dallas Morning News is reporting Stars' second round pick Ludvig Bystrom was assigned to MODO of the Swedish Elite League.

Bystrom was taken in the CHL Import Draft by the Plymouth Whalers, but this move makes it seem less likely he'll come over until he's ready for assignment to the AHL. That's just a gut feeling on my part though. Whether or not he ever comes over to play in the OHL he still requires more seasoning before seeing either Stars lineup.

I did see this article at Defending Big D. The Derek Roy shoulder injury and subsequent surgery is old news by now, but this does include a tiny bit more detail about just what the issue was for him regarding that shoulder.

"I played the whole season on it," said Roy, "injured all last year. It was coming in and out [of the socket] through the season. So what you do is you strengthen the muscles around the area, the labrum, and you develop your strength back - And then it happened a couple more times so at the end of the season we decided to rehab it and work hard on it. Get it back to 100%."

About 2/3rd's of the way down there is a link to the interview with him on 1310 The Ticket that's worth a listen to. Nothing earth shattering, but a good listen all the same.

[NoWayOut]

Here's a link to a short article about Cody Eakin....

http://blackoutdallas.com/2012/07/17...ew-cody-eakin/

He should have a good shot at making the roster out of camp. On top of that if he can excel he may get to see some time centering the 2nd line until Roy returns. After that he should be battling Fiddler and Wandell for 3rd/4th line center duties.

It will be interesting to watch and see if he can seize the opportunity he has in front of him.

[bondon]

Cool article on Eakin, I think he's in a great situation this year because as you mentioned he has the opportunity to battle it out for a scoring role while Roy is on the shelf...but even if he can make it onto that squad in a third-line role, unless there is a trade made he will still have a solid winger in either Morrow or Ryder (can't remember which winger Nieuwendyk excluded from the top-six when he was asked awhile back).

Just thought I'd toss in this update for ya, Stars re-signed Fistric today. Here is what Rotoworld had:

Mark Fistric has inked a one-year/$1.475 million contract extension with the Dallas Stars.
Fistric had an arbitration hearing scheduled for August 1. He's a defensive defenseman who had 235 hits and 105 blocked shots in 60 games last season. He's not expected to have any fantasy value in standard leagues.

[NoWayOut]

I'm thinking the scoring lines likely shape up like this....

Eriksson - Benn - Jagr
Whitney - Roy- Ryder

Those seem the most logical and also I believe Nieuwendyk has said as much, though I can't locate the article. That would put Morrow on the LW for line 3 with Eakin or Fiddler centering and possibly Nystrom at RW. Vincour could be a darkhorse candidate for RW on that line.

Thanks for the note on Fistric. I knew he had an arbitration hearing coming up, but hadn't seen the signing yet. Good catch.