Dallas Stars

[NoWayOut]

Thanks... only reason I ask is I recently reluctantly dropped him to pick up Hornqvist (I now have Kunitz/Horny) in anticipation of a Pens revival with the new coach and I'm feeling a bit of seller's remorse lol

I see where your coming from and Val is going to require a good bit of patience. That hip injury not only cost him last season, but he wasn't the same after the Sochi games the season before. So you can make an argument that his development was delayed by a season and a half or thereabouts. Tough to get back up to speed quickly from that, plus overcome some natural uncertainty about how the hip would feel and hold up at full game speed. He just keep making little strides here and there which is about all you can really ask of a prospect, which in some ways he still is. Bears repeating though, he's only 20 so lots of reason to believe he will still reward those who keep the faith.

[NoWayOut]

After that sloppy 1st period, that sounds really nasty and deeply personal, featuring 10 turnovers the lines get Ruffled. Eakin moves up to center Benn and Seguin, Nichushkin moves down to Spezza's LW and Sharp moves up to the RW on that line.

Oddly I think the refs left their whistles back in the motel. Lots of stuff that could have been called both ways. Yet, nada....so far. Once the gofer returns with the whistles I'm sure it'll be penalty-palooza.

[NoWayOut]

Yikes. After every loss the Stars have come back with a strong effort, except tonight. Bad clearing attempts, passes into skates, nowhere close to the tape on the recipients stick. Just sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.

Nichushkin-Spezza-Sharp has been great and generated the best chances. Benn and Seguin have been rather invisible.

[NoWayOut]

Ah, now we see you Mr. Seguin....

[blayze]

Is Nish back on the top line or is he with Spezza/Hemsky?

[NoWayOut]

Is Nish back on the top line or is he with Spezza/Hemsky?

Spezza and Sharp. He's had three excellent chances, and one was denied on a hail mary from Korpisalo. Val was flying in for a slam dunk on a rebound but it just grazed the top edge of Korpisalo's stick and went high, otherwise he's got one at least. Right now he's clicking big time with the two vets.

[NoWayOut]

Since Roussel went off after the fight with Jenner and the extra roughing on top of that, Val has been out there on just about every line. Back with Benn-Seguin, Janmark-Hemsky, and Spezza-Sharp.

[NoWayOut]

Well the Stars survived another sloppy game. In the link I'm going to post below Ruff has hit the nail on the head, the Stars are in a very unfamiliar place, they are now the hunted and not the hunter. I think that plays a bit into this recent spate of sloppiness. Where before teams took you as a patsy and thought they could just cruise to a win, the Stars are now getting that mindset. Meanwhile the other 29 teams are licking their chops at the chance to take down the big dog at the top of the table. As Razor pointed out in game and in his post game Emporium, the Stars looked at the standings and figured they could just mail that one in last night, Columbus wanted the chance to put a notch in their belt in an otherwise dismal season. The Stars had won four in a row in St. Louis prior to last Saturday night and thought the same thing would just happen again. Just another lesson that needs to be learned when you make the move from being a good team to a great team, obvious but yet so many teams fail at it early on in that transition.

Heika's column about Ruff's frustrations:

http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dall...focus-columbus

And for Stone, and anybody else wondering, in the four games since Brett Ritchie returned to the Texas Stars lineup he has 4 goals and an assist. With Devin Shore expected to be out the next 4-6 weeks or longer, that places Ritchie in the drivers seat should Dallas need to call up an offensive minded forward. Faksa would also be in the mix for a call up but he's more of a bottom six guy, so it would depend on what Nill and Ruff want in the call up.

[STONE.]

Well the Stars survived another sloppy game. In the link I'm going to post below Ruff has hit the nail on the head, the Stars are in a very unfamiliar place, they are now the hunted and not the hunter. I think that plays a bit into this recent spate of sloppiness. Where before teams took you as a patsy and thought they could just cruise to a win, the Stars are now getting that mindset. Meanwhile the other 29 teams are licking their chops at the chance to take down the big dog at the top of the table. As Razor pointed out in game and in his post game Emporium, the Stars looked at the standings and figured they could just mail that one in last night, Columbus wanted the chance to put a notch in their belt in an otherwise dismal season. The Stars had won four in a row in St. Louis prior to last Saturday night and thought the same thing would just happen again. Just another lesson that needs to be learned when you make the move from being a good team to a great team, obvious but yet so many teams fail at it early on in that transition.

Heika's column about Ruff's frustrations:

http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dall...focus-columbus

And for Stone, and anybody else wondering, in the four games since Brett Ritchie returned to the Texas Stars lineup he has 4 goals and an assist. With Devin Shore expected to be out the next 4-6 weeks or longer, that places Ritchie in the drivers seat should Dallas need to call up an offensive minded forward. Faksa would also be in the mix for a call up but he's more of a bottom six guy, so it would depend on what Nill and Ruff want in the call up.

Saw that. But thanks! I'm excited to see if he can get some time up with the big club this season. More than anything, I'd love him on the roster in time for the postseason!

[NoWayOut]

Saw that. But thanks! I'm excited to see if he can get some time up with the big club this season. More than anything, I'd love him on the roster in time for the postseason!

It's certainly possible as we get closer to the trade deadline as I think there will be some openings on the roster after trades. Nill has plenty of decisions to make on pending UFA's, Goose, Demers, Jordie, Fidds, Moen, Eaves, and Sceviour. We can't know what he's thinking but you'd have to think he's not going to want to bring back both Goose and Demers what with all the prospect D that are there(Jokipakka, Nemeth, and Oleksiak) and close to being there(Lindell and Johns). Nemeth and Oleksiak, and more so Nemeth, are being hurt in their development because they play so sparingly but can't be shipped to Cedar Park without going through waivers which neither one would likely clear.

For sure the Stars will be buyers at the deadline or well before, so maybe Nill puts Goose or Demers on the block along with one or two prospects, be it D-men, forwards, or a combination and goes after that proven big body D-man the Stars need. Sure they have some prospects that fit into that mold and they could wait, but where this team is verging on a lock for the playoffs, now is the time to flip those guys for a proven D in his late 20's. With the Sharks teetering on the brink of being out, only 1 pt ahead of the 3rd-6th place teams, and just 4 up on last place Anaheim, who knows where they'll be come late February? If they were to be on the outside and Nill put up the right offer, maybe Burns? Long shot, and lots to be determined between now and the deadline, but definitely an intriguing thought. But somebody along those lines would seem like just the guy Nill would be looking for. And he's certainly not shy about making bold trades for top targets.

[NoWayOut]

It appears Lindy is going to stick with the shuffled lines from Tuesday night, at least to start.....

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

That Spezza line was dynamite after Ruff put them together. They could be an excellent 1-2 punch behind Benn and Seguin.

Nemeth in again in place of Jokipakka. He really needs the work. Last season Nemeth looked like he had the makings of a good stay-at-home defenseman, but this season due to all the scratches he's had some shaky outings when he does get in. The whole contract situation for him and Oleksiak, having to clear waivers to go down to Cedar Park, plus Jokipakka and Jordie stepping up their game to start the season has led to this. I believe it was Mike Heika in one of his chats that eluded to the fact that he wouldn't be surprised if two of Oleksiak, Nemeth, or Jokipakka was gone by the deadline or over the summer. The Stars are in a good place as far as D in the pipeline and young ones in the show so now's the time to cash in for an upgrade without hurting your prospect depth too much.

Mike is also reporting that it looks like Kari in net.

[blayze]

Well, Nich didn't stick very long on the Bennguin line. Kind of relieved since I had to drop him lol

[NoWayOut]

Sorry for the lack of info...input....updates....whatever you want to call what I do. I've been a bit under the weather lately, bit of food poisoning or something along those lines. Throw in the holiday madness, and well it adds up to less time here than I'd like. Anyway, just a few thoughts off the top of my head...

-Another big win for the Stars ahead of a huge, ma-who-sive, measuring stick game. Not always pretty, the way our D-Stars go about business, but damn if it ain't entertaining. One thing is for sure, you never, ever, turn the channel until it's over. While it's great to chalk up another win, and more importantly, another in the division, there's still room for improvement and bigger fish to fry, no offense to the Wild. The Stars still suffer from inconsistency in execution from game to game, and period to period, but they're slowly learning to live in a hockey world where they are the hunted, not the hunter.

-It's the little things in life. It's so nice to have Strader and Razor back calling games for Dallas. I can't remember the name of the play-by-play guy on CBC for the Habs game, but how hard is it to pronounce Jokipakka? All night long Saturday, he kept saying Yo-Ka-Pa-Ka, not Yo-Kee-Pa-Ka. I'm sorry, it wasn't all night. The very first time he tried Jyrki's name it was Yo-Ka-Pa-Kee. It's those times when you don't get to listen to 'em that you realize just how good those two are. And Dave Strader has been a seamless fit in Ralph Strangis' role opposite Razor. We're lucky, a good team on the rise and hands down the best broadcast team in the league bar none. Heck one of the best in pro sports period.

-Speaking of the little things. The Stars are still the kings when it comes to trolling the opposition with the in-house arena crew. Give the Wild credit for recognizing the uncanny resemblance between Jordie Benn and Yukon Cornelius from the old Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer special. BUT...well you lose when the player in question promptly scores immediately after said trolling attempt. The Stars arena crew are still the masters....

-Earlier I said no offense to the Wild, even though the organization has some f---ing nerve trotting out North Stars alumni jerseys. Me thinks the folks in charge up there, and maybe even the fans to some degree, need a refresher course. The North Stars are now in Texas, time to get over it. Sure, losing a franchise hurts, but the Wild have no claim whatsoever to the North Stars name. Accept that the North Stars are gone and just embrace your Minnesota Wild. I know if I was Tom Gaglardi I'd be fit to be tied with them trying to claim a name that isn't their's.

[blayze]

What a shootout!

Stars fared better in this game than the previous one. Good to see them being able to hang with the elite teams, although for there were stretches where they were outplayed and outworked.

It's beginning to feel like the Blues have the Stars number... really hope to see these two go at it in the playoffs!

[NoWayOut]

What a shootout!

Stars fared better in this game than the previous one. Good to see them being able to hang with the elite teams, although for there were stretches where they were outplayed and outworked.

It's beginning to feel like the Blues have the Stars number... really hope to see these two go at it in the playoffs!

They just keep digging, grinding, and chipping away at it. There's still some roster tweaks coming before the deadline. But you do see them starting to settle into the role of the hunted. The Oduya signing and the trade for Sharp have paid huge dividends already both on and off the ice. And Niemi is proving worth the gamble so far. They were poised to take a step forward this season, but those guys pushed it two steps forward.

It's time to kick your feet up and wait to see what Nill does next to improve the roster. It's coming, but who's headed out and who's coming in?