Tag Archives: Derek Roy

Benn Scores Twice in Stars’ 3-2 Victory

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Photo by Michael Martin

Photo by Michael Martin

Tonight the Stars faced a team in Colorado that, as DallasNews.com writer Mike Heika noted, is very similar to them. Both teams are grooming young players, changing lines every game, and are dealing with key injuries. Stars coach Glen Gulutzan attempted to more evenly distribute skill by shaking up his lines, moving Tomas Vincour to the second line, and Michael Ryder to the third line with Cody Eakin. Would the line juggling result in a more sustained attack?

First Period
The Stars came out of a gate with a sense of urgency to keep the puck in the offensive zone. Guys were swarming around the puck and forechecking like they’ve been forechecked by other teams this season. The Stars took the lead early when Jamie Benn poached a pass intended for Mike Hunwick, crossed over to his forehand and fired the puck under Varlamov’s right blocker. Continue reading →

Stars drop 4th straight in loss to Red Wings

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Photo by Dave Reginek

Photo by Dave Reginek

For the second time in seven nights, the Stars found themselves in Joe Louis Arena, facing the Detroit Red Wings. This time, things were set up a bit different. It was the Stars’ turn to be coming off a back-to-back, the bane of their existence since last year. But this time, they had their best player on the ice, Jamie Benn. In the end though, the same issues that have been hampering this team snowballed into an embarrassing defeat.

First Period
The game opened with a bang, as Eric Nystrom fought Jordin Tootoo as soon as the puck dropped, likely as retribution for Tootoo’s hit on Philip Larsen a week ago. The Stars struggled to get anything going in even strength situations, and struggled even more on their first two power plays, seeming content to dump and chase with no success. A frantic series of saves by a stretching Kari Lehtonen saw the puck end up with Jamie Benn at the blue line, who fed a streaking Loui Eriksson for the Stars’ first quality chance of the game. Jimmy Howard was equal to the task though.

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Stars Look Lackluster in Loss to Wild

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The Stars were shutout on the second night of a back-to-back by the Minnesota Wild, 0-1. Back-to-backs were the Stars’ weakness last season, and at first blush it seems that it could be a problem again this season. The Stars looked fatigued at times, mentally absent at others, and were totally stymied by Minnesota’s defense.

Only the Jagr-Roy-Eriksson line seemed to generate any offense, and even then it didn’t amount to much. Minnesota was content to clog the lanes and block shot after shot (26 blocked in total). Wild goaltender Josh Harding was named the 1st Star of the Game, but honestly didn’t have much to do until the end of the game when the Stars made a short-handed bid to tie the game.

Harding wasn’t even the best goalie in the game – neutral observers would award that title to the Stars’ rookie netminder Cristoper Nilstorp. The lanky Swede looked very composed yet active, using every bit of his 6’3″, 191 lb body to cut off angles to the net.  The lone goal of the night came off of a Zach Parise blast that Nilstorp likely couldn’t see through the 3 bodies ahead of him. A few more performances like tonight, and Richard Bachman might have a hard time winning back the backup job – or the Stars might have a nice piece to trade at the deadline.

It would only seem natural for Stars fans to be frustrated after another back-to-back loss. “Here we go again,” they might be saying. I’d preach a little more patience in this instance though. This was the first back-to-back game after one week of training camp, and a team with many new faces that are still trying to learn how to play together. At the very least, the Stars kept the game close, which is an improvement over last year’s squad in the second game of back-to-backs. Let’s reserve our judgment just a bit, and enjoy the fact that hockey is back.

For your consideration…

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Stars

 

Here we are, fellow D/FW sports fans. The Cowboys have made their annual early exit, college football is over, and the Rangers’ hot stove is still warm (after having some issues preheating). Someone might compliment Shawn Marion’s shooting form before you find a local college basketball game on TV worth watching. The Mavericks are stuck in limbo, somewhere between re-tooling and rebuilding…either way they’re nothing but repulsive to watch on most nights.  But don’t worry; as the sun seemingly sets on D/FW sports, there is a twinkle of hope. The Stars are coming back.

Wait – don’t go for your browser’s back button quite yet. There are a few things to like about the Stars, and a few storylines that could make this abbreviated season an interesting one to watch.

First, you know they’re 100 percent committed to rebuilding. Rebuilding has some negative connotations, but D/FW sports fans have to be relieved that the strategy of “keeping the powder dry” hasn’t made its way over to the Stars’ portion of the AAC. Tom Hicks is out, new ownership is in. Gone are Steve Ott, Mike Ribeiro, Sheldon Souray, and Adam Burish. In their place is an interesting combination of youth and veteran leadership new to the team.

40 year-olds Jaromir Jagr and Ray Whitney will be key pieces of that veteran leadership. The legendary Jagr will be a great presence on the ice and in the locker room. Whitney is already making his mark, as GM Joe Nieuwendyk noted, “He’s already grabbed hold of this locker room a little.”

In a short 48 game season, it’s likely we’ll see a lot of sloppiness and a lot of penalties. Last year, the Stars were the NHL’s worst in taking advantage of power play opportunities, scoring on only 13.5% of their opportunities. Stars coach Glen Gulutzan will surely make power play scoring a priority in 2013. On that front, Ray Whitney could pair quite nicely with the addition of center Derek Roy. Roy is undersized for an NHL center, but sees his teammates very well, which could pay dividends for the Stars on the power play.

Compounding the power play problem last year was the fact that the Stars spent too much time killing penalties. When the Stars got rid of Ott, Souray, Burish and Ribeiro they helped solve the problem. This group of players were four of the top five offenders on the team. However, when the Stars shed that recklessness, did they lose some toughness as well? While it’s unwise to call any hockey player a pushover, after glancing at the roster, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say this will be a less physical team. It’ll be interesting to see how the roster shakeup affects this dynamic of the team.

Another storyline to watch: how do the Stars utilize their budding star, Jaime Benn? Will he stay on the same line as last year with Eriksson and Ryder? Could he play on a line with Ray Whitney and Jagr, or will be be paired with Derek Roy? Actually, I might be getting ahead of myself – the Stars haven’t signed Benn to a new contract, and there’s a chance that the season begins without a deal having been completed. Benn and his agent seemingly hold a good deal of leverage, considering the Stars will want their young face-of-the-franchise on the ice as quickly as possible in this shortened season.

Off the ice, there are some interesting happenings as well. Mike Modano is back in Dallas, having taken an undefined role in the organization. He holds a lot of cachet in this town, so I’d guess he’ll be used mostly for marketing and promotional purposes. Also returning is Marty Turco, presumably in a similar role – to help get butts in seats. Considering that the Stars aren’t hiding the fact that they’re rebuilding, management might get creative with ticket pricing and specials. Stars owner Tom Gaglardi mentioned on 1310 The Ticket that the Stars are working on a plan for free upper-deck tickets for fans 12 and under.

Well, there you have it; the best case I can put together for watching the Dallas Stars this season. Now is a good time to get in on the ground floor and support a team whose owner knows he’s not the GM. A team whose GM, like another local team’s GM, graduated from Cornell and believes in the value of building a team from within. A team that is not seemingly in denial about its current state and is trying to responsibly build for the future. This is a team you can get behind, and a team you should consider supporting.