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Dallas Stars Minor Pro Stretch Drive & Playoff Review Part 1 Sunday, May 25, 2008 By Kevin Wey The season ended with a bang for the Dallas Stars’ minor pro affiliates, but not when their seasons ended April 13, rather when the NHL parent club announced April 25 that it was ending it’s five-year affiliation with the Iowa Stars (soon to be renamed) two years early, which lead to widespread speculation as to what was next both for Iowa and for the Dallas Stars’ prospects in 2008-09. Will Dallas have one AHL affiliate in 2008-09? Will Dallas split its prospects between two AHL teams like they did in 2004-05 between Houston and Hamilton? Might the team buy an existing AHL franchise and move them to Reunion Arena for one or two seasons before the new arena in Austin is ready and get questions of what existing AHL franchise moves to Austin to fulfill Dallas’s intentions? Will Dave Allison and Paul Jerrard be coaching in 2008-09 (as both have one year left on their respective contracts with Dallas but currently have no team)? The answers to those questions will only be forthcoming after the NHL and AHL Playoffs, the latter of which Iowa had been eliminated from before the final month of the season. Twelve days before the affiliate bombshell was dropped (although there had been rumors), the Iowa Stars’ season fizzled after the team failed to make the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs for the first time in the team’s three-year history. Iowa showed a little life in the first half of March, winning four of the team’s first six games and losing another in overtime; however, from March 15 on, the I-Stars went 4-7-1-1 and finished the season with a 35-37-5-3 record, last in the eight-team West Division. Problematic for the I-Stars was the fact that the team went for 3 for 72 on the power play in the team’s final 14 games (March 14 onward), and those power play woes to close the season landed the team last in the AHL in power play efficiency with .132 conversion rate. The team’s penalty killing was a only bit better with a .805 rating, 23rd in the AHL. Of note, however, Iowa was tenth overall on the penalty kill on the road, with a .836 rating away from Wells Fargo Arena. Iowa’s play away from home was, in fact, one of the subplots of the season. Iowa had a winning 19-18-2-1 record away from home while it went 16-19-3-2 in front of the 3789 fans it averaged over the course of their 40 home dates, which attendance figure was 26th in the AHL out of 29 teams. The season did end with some positives, though. Center Toby Petersen and right winger B.J. Crombeen were recalled to Dallas in March for the Stars’ stretch drive and goaltender Tobias Stephan joined them on April 7, a week before the end of the AHL season. Marty Sertich came back from a serious injury to end 2006-07 to lead Iowa in scoring in 2007-08. Rookies James Neal, Perttu Lindgren, and Tom Wandell all ended the season strong. Neal ended the season so strong, in fact, that he was recalled to Dallas as a “black ace” for the playoffs. Also joining him were Chris Conner and Konstantin Pushkarev, both of whom had strong numbers down the stretch, and Francis Wathier, who missed three-fourths of the season due to injury and still earned a spot, and defenseman Dan Jancevski, who stopped his bleeding plus/minus down the stretch. Also encouraging was the play of Iowa’s amateur tryout players. Right winger Raymond Sawada, a 2004 second round pick, and free agents Matt Climie (goaltender) and Tyler Shelast (right wing) all signed contracts with Dallas in March and finished out the season with Iowa. Sawada was especially impressive, scoring 2 goals and 7 assists in 10 games and providing a physical presence game in and game out. Other amateur tryout players, such as defensemen Trevor Ludwig and Matt Stephenson and goaltender Mitch O’Keefe, were trying to prove they were worthy of two-way NHL contracts over the summer. The positives of the season were also reflected February 9 when the Iowa Stars named their team award recipients for the season. They were, as follows: 7th Player Award: Janos Vas The team was aided by the bolstering of its depth chart with the assignment of center Aaron Gagnon, left winger Mark Bomersback, defenseman Ethan Graham, and goaltender Steve Silverthorn from Iowa. The return of Silverthorn gave Idaho three goaltenders of ECHL starting caliber, as rookies Kellen Briggs and Matt Zaba both sported save percentages over .920 for Idaho during the season. Forwards Lance Galbraith, Marty Flichel, and Taggart Desmet finished 16th, 17th, and 18th in ECHL scoring respectively, providing consistent production throughout the season, and Dallas prospect John Lammers nearly led the team in goals scoring with 27 tallies (behind Desmet’s 29) despite playing in only half of Idaho’s games (due to a forgettable stint in Finland). In addition, veteran defenseman Darrell Hay’s contributions were recognized when the ECHL named him to the First All-Star Team. Unfortunately for Idaho, the playoffs did not go as well as the regular season. The fourth-seeded Steelheads played the fifth-seeded Alaska Aces in the first round of the playoffs and were promptly swept in four games, no thanks to goaltender St. Louis Blues prospect goaltender Marek Schwarz, who had a .951 save percentage during the first round of the playoffs after being re-assigned from the sinking Peoria Rivermen April 8. Ironically, despite making the playoffs, Idaho’s season ended same day as Iowa’s (April 13). Of some ECHL playoff cheer for the Dallas organization, though, was that winger Alexander Naurov finished the season strong with the Bakersfield Condors after being re-assigned from Idaho March 4. Naurov was one of Bakersfield’s top offensive threats down the stretch and he carried that into the playoffs and helped the seventh-seeded Condors take the Victoria Salmon Kings into overtime of Game 6 after looking like an unlikely candidate to even make the postseason prior to the Russian’s arrival. Despite the disappointment in Iowa and Idaho, one Dallas Star prospect did end the 2007-08 season on top. Iowa Stars winger Janos Vas joined Team Hungary at the Division I, Group B, World Championships in Sapporo, Japan, at the conclusion of the AHL season and helped the Magyar achieve something they had not in 70 years: promotion to the elite pool. Hungary won the gold April 19 after sweeping the tournament, including a 4-2 victory over Ukraine in the final and pivotal game of the tournament. Vas wasn’t the only Dallas minor pro player to represent his country after the season, as Marius Holtet played for Team Norway at the 2008 World Championships in Quebec City and Halifax and helped his team make the qualifying round and finish eighth in the tournament. Looking back, it was a long season for the Dallas Stars’ prospects and depth players in the minor pro ranks, but not quite as long as they might have liked. That said, many of the organization’s youngest prospects finished the season strong, a good sign heading into the summer and onward to the 2008-09 season. As follows is the Dallas Stars Minor Pro Update for the stretch drive, the playoffs, and even beyond. First up is the goaltenders. Reports on defensemen and forwards will follow in the days ahead. Goaltenders# 31 Tobias Stephan, G After a stint in October, and a couple quick stints in February under emergency conditions, Stephan was recalled to Dallas April 7 (after the team played their final regular season game on April 6) to serve as the third goaltender during the playoffs. The recall of Stephan also helped make more sense of Iowa’s signing of Ferris State goaltender Mitch O’Keefe to an amateur trying contract after having already signed Matt Climie March 20 to serve as Stephan’s back-up. The recall of Stephan to Dallas despite Iowa having a week left in its regular season was a fairly easy decision with the I-Stars already eliminated from making the playoffs, but one couldn’t pin much blame on Stephan for that blemish. Stephan’s numbers far outshone any goaltender that played over 90 minutes for the team all season (O’Keefe saw 76 minutes of action over two games and did put up good numbers). None of Philippe Sauve, Steve Silverthorn, Matt Climie, or David McKee had a save percentage over .890, compared to Stephan’s .910 save percentage. None of those four other goaltenders had a goals-against average below 3.36; Stephan’s was 2.65. Among all other Iowa goaltenders not named Tobias, only one shutout (Steve Silverthorn); Stephan had an AHL third-best 6 shutouts. Finally, and most importantly, the Iowa goaltenders not born in Switzerland combined for an 8-17-1 record; Stephan had a 27-25-2 record. Unfortunately for Iowa, Stephan couldn’t play every game, but he did tend the Iowa net for 3329 minutes in 2007-08, third in the AHL behind Milwaukee’s Pekka Rinne and Albany’s Michael Leighton. The plan entering 2007-08 wasn’t to ride Stephan, but that’s how it worked out. “He logged many more games than we though he would this year, just based on our situation in goal this season,” White said of Stephan. Indeed, when the season began and Philippe Sauve was signed to an AHL contract, it looked like Stephan might platoon with Sauve at best, but Sauve faltered and Stephan took the reins early and never looked back. Along the way, he earned a one-year contract with Dallas for the 2008-09 season, signed March 12, which means he’ll be back with the organization next season. “I’m happy to back for, at least, another year and be in this organization,” Stephan said in a post-game interview in March. “I think I can move a step forward here, and I look forward to it.” If Stephan plays all of 2008-09 in the AHL, he’ll earn $100,000; but if he plays in the NHL, he’s still a bargain at $485,000. His NHL salary could be misconstrued as having third-string goalie written all over, but it could also end up a huge savings for a team that added Brad Richards’ $7 million-plus contract if Stephan is indeed the back-up next season, and that’s well within the realm of possibility. “He’s developed and I fully expect him to challenge for the back-up role in Dallas next year, and it’s ultimately up to him and his performance in training camp and what he does in the summer in terms of getting stronger and things like that,” White said of Stephan. The 24-year-old is well aware that it won’t be handed to him on a platter. “I think I’ve got a chance to make the team, but it’s not a done deal,” Stephan said. “I’ve got to battle for it.” “I’m not going to get it just like this,” Stephan added, gesturing a snapping motion with his fingers. If Stephan makes it, he’ll follow in a growing tradition of successful Dallas prospect goaltenders that have developed, or are developing, into fine NHL goalies. “I think our scouts have done a good job of identifying those guys, starting with Marty Turco and following with Mike Smith, and Dan Ellis, and Tobias Stephan,” Allison noted. “I think the one consistent thing we’ve done with those guys is tried to get them to be assertive, and then staying and being square and set, and then the next thing is controlling and freezing the rebounds,” Allison added. Those are the areas the Iowa Stars have worked intensively with Stephan and in which the Swiss netminder has shown improvements in. He’s also made significant strides in puckhandling and moving the puck in the North American game. It wasn’t uncommon as the season went on for Stephan to look off forecheckers and stay calm under pressure and make accurate passes up the ice to defensemen or forwards. Stephan isn’t Marty Turco or Mike Smith just yet, but he’s a well ahead of former Stars goaltender Arturs Irbe, and puckhandling is something Stephan will continue to work on. “I think that Dallas is always a good puck-moving goaltender team, and that’s the next stage of his development, because it’s going to be very hard for a team to adjust from one goaltender to the other, but he’s capable of it and he got better at it this year,” Allison said of Stephan’s puckmoving. “It’s something that he knows and he’s going to address, because that’s the type of kid he is.” White sees another area of improvement that should also help tip the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Stephan over the hill and into the NHL. “I think one area where he could probably work on is some added strength,” White said. “I’m not saying putting on weight or anything, but just to be able to handle that grind and go from there. “Other than that, he’s on the right path in my opinion.” That path has led to NHL All-Star status for Marty Turco, toward probable number one netminder duties in Tampa Bay for Mike Smith, and potential number one netminder duties for Dan Ellis in Nashville. With Dallas back-up Jonas Holmqvist an unrestricted free agent and far from a certainty to return, Stephan could be next in line. # 1 Matt Climie, G Climie’s first action for the I-Stars came March 22 at Peoria, where the Rivermen scored 6 goals on 41 shots in a 6-2 drubbing of Iowa. The Bemidji State University grad (he graduated from BSU in December and began graduate work the spring semester while skating for the Beavers) also suffered the ignominy of allowing a 185-foot shorthanded goal to David Van der Gulik at 7:29 of the third period April 1 in what ended up a 4-3 shootout loss. Van der Gulik’s goal was a clearing attempt off the half boards just above the opposite goal-line that ended up bouncing in front of Climie about one foot in front of him and hoped over his pad while he was putting the paddle down to attempt stop the puck. That goal earned Climie a less-than-flattering nickname from his new teammates. “It happened to Vesa Toskala three weeks ago in Toronto,” Iowa Stars Director of Hockey Operations Scott White said of the goal in an early April interview. “That’s what his nickname is now, ‘Vesa.’” But, as White also mentioned, “If it can happen to a quality goaltender like Vesa Toskala, it can certainly happen to an up-and-coming goaltender like Matt Climie.” Dallas started the 2007-08 season with only three goaltenders under contract, and the signing of Climie ensures they’ll have at least three in 2008-09, as Marty Turco and Tobias Stephan are already under contract for next season. Dallas was drawn to Climie for both his tall 6-foot-3, 185-pound frame and his relative maturity. “He’s a little more mature than some other guys that we were in the market for, and that’s okay by us,” White noted of Climie. To end the season, Climie had a 1-3-1-1 record, a 3.99 goals-against average, and a .872 goals-against average, well behind the numbers of Tobias Stephan and fellow amateur tryout goaltender Mitch O’Keefe, who put up a 2.35 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage between his lone start April 12 and his relief appearance in the third period April 13, the final game of the season. Next season, Climie will have to further adapt to the speed of the AHL game and make sure he doesn’t commit too early and to reduce the number of soft goals he gives up. On the plus side, his puckmoving abilities became more apparent as he began to adjust to the speed of the AHL game, making Climie one in a line of Dallas prospect netminders with some size and puckhandling abilities. Somewhat dependent on what happens with Dallas’ AHL affiliation situation next season, he’ll also follow in the footsteps of a philosophy that developed Marty Turco, Mike Smith, and Dan Ellis. “We really believe in being assertive, square and set, and taking control and freezing the rebounds, and that’s what we stressed with the three guys that are in the National Hockey League now and that’s what we continue to stress with any goaltender that comes in here,” Iowa Stars head coach Dave Allison said in a late April interview. “We’re not going to change your style, but I really believe you have to follow the puck and you have to follow those three guidelines, and if it’s good enough for them (Turco, Smith, and Ellis), then it works.” If Dallas finds itself in a split-affiliate situation in 2008-09, Climie could easily find himself in the ECHL, depending on who the other affiliates have in net from their parent club or on AHL contract, which probably wasn’t what Climie was hoping for when he signed that NHL contract.
Kevin Wey is a correspondent with McKeen’s Hockey that scouts/covers that American Hockey League and the United States Hockey League.
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