 |
|
|
|
|
Stars News & Notes:
Friday, March 14, 2008 With the Dallas Stars heading down the stretch and preparing for the postseason, coach Dave Tippett is looking for players who can compete in big games. Tippett believes Joel Lundqvist is one of those players. And Lundqvist wants to be one of those players. Lundqvist was a bright spot in the Stars' 5-3 loss in Detroit Thursday night. He picked up two assists in 14:41 of ice time, the most action he has seen in a game in about two months. It was a solid performance in what has been an up and mostly down season for the 26-year-old Swede. "It felt good," Lundqvist said after Friday's practice in Frisco. "I haven't had that much ice time for a long time. It's fun to play again a lot." Fun isn't a word you'd use to describe Lundqvist's season up to this point. Frustrating would be a better choice. There were high expectations for Lundqvist this season after last season's performance, which included a strong stretch drive and an excellent performance in the playoffs as a member of the Stars' checking line with Stu Barnes and Jeff Halpern. But he struggled out of the gate in 2007-08 and eventually spent almost three weeks in the minors. Of the 62 games he's been in the NHL this season, he's been scratched 14 times. He has two goals and nine assists in 48 games. "It's been a tough year, the whole year. I've been working hard to play more, but it's been tough. This is the reality of playing on a good team. It's been a different year for sure," Lundqvist said. "It was tough when I got sent down. Maybe there was some confidence issues there. Last year I was playing good, I got confidence, they played me a lot and you grow as a player. "It's the opposite when you don't play much. The way your confidence goes up, it goes down. I didn't have the same touch with the puck and skating maybe." But now there is an opportunity as the Stars head down the stretch this season and prepare for the playoffs. Tippett is looking for guys who can play in big games, and Lundqvist has a history of doing that. "There have been situations this year where it has been very frustrating for him," said Tippett. "He's been in and out of the lineup a little bit, he hasn't found his role but one of the reasons I like him in that position [Thursday] night is that he has shown that he is a big game player. He gets into big games and competes hard. He has that mindset. He went in there last night and did a good job." Lundqvist acknowledged this is a good opportunity for him to get back into the lineup on a regular basis and make an impact. "I want to play in the playoffs. You want to play as much as possible," Lundqvist said. "This is a good chance for me to show the coaches that I want to play. I've got to take every chance I get." Thursday's game was making the most of one of those chances. "That's my type of game," Lundqvist said. "Work hard, try to create chances. Play hard. That was good for me and my confidence." And it's just the kind of performance Tippett likes to see at this time of the season. "He's a guy that when we talk about preparing and every day trying to get better in the stretch drive because these games are very important, he's a guy that has really taken that to heart," Tippett said. "He wants to be there when the game is on the line. Those are the kind of people we want." Practice Notes: Line juggling Stars coach Dave Tippett juggled things up a bit during Friday's practice in Frisco, especially among his forward lines. "We've got to get more out of people and find out what they can do," Tippett said. "That's where we are." Among the changes: splitting up Mike Modano and Brad Richards and moving Richards back to center. Mike Ribeiro and Brenden Morrow were back on a line together as well. "I think it was normal to separate us for a while," said Ribeiro. "We weren't doing much, creating much. It's going to be nice to be back together and keep doing what we do best, which is create offense and help the team win some games." Here's how the lineup broke down during Friday's practice.
Iowa tops Quad City 4-1 The Iowa Stars continued to try to make a late season push for a playoff spot, beating Quad City 4-1 Friday night. Perttu Lindgren, Tom Wandell, Chris Conner and Konstantin Pushkarev all had one goal and one assist in the game. Tobias Stephan stopped 26 of 27 shots. The Stars have now won five of their last seven games (5-1-1-0). Quotable "Vancouver is a desperate team that has lost two in a row now and they're fighting for that playoff spot. They have to look at it as a playoff game. We better recognize that and be able to answer that intensity and that challenge or we will be chasing the game. It is as simple as that." Stars coach Dave Tippett on Saturday's matchup with the Vancouver Canucks
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indicates Subscriber only
content