Andrew's Dallas Stars Blog

Stars moving training camp?

Could be according to a story in The Guardian (Prince Edward Island):

P.E.I. natives Brad Richards and Steve Ott could be coming to Charlottetown for training camp this fall.

The City of Charlottetown made a formal proposal to the Dallas Stars organization last week to have the NHL organization move part of its training camp to the Island capital.

The rest of the story is here. 

Monday practice photos

Shannon Byrne took several pictures at Monday's practice in Frisco, and you can find them here.

Financial state of the Stars

Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas has an article up on the financial state of the Stars, as revealed by owner Tom Hicks today. You can read it here.

Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News has his version here.

Bottom line, don’t expect a spending spree anytime soon. Times have changed, and it’s not all because of the economy. A lot of things went right about a decade ago for the Stars. Big TV deal (along with the Rangers) with Fox thanks to some shrewd moves by Hicks, Stanley Cup (which helped them fill a void in the local sports market at the time and become a hot ticket), new arena (always a big boost to the revenue stream). 

A decade later, they haven’t done much in the playoffs other than one run in 2008 and they are no longer a hot ticket in town. They are back to No. 4 among the four pro teams in the market. Throw in the economy, and it gets a little tougher. Start looking ahead, and the next TV deal may not be so lucrative. Spending has to reflect the reality of the revenues coming in, and that’s where they are.

Fistric to IR

Here’s the release:

The Dallas Stars announced today that the club has placed defenseman Mark Fistric on injured reserve (retroactive to Feb. 4). He will undergo arthroscopic surgery after suffering a knee injury on Feb. 4 at Columbus. He is expected to be out until after the Olympic Break.

Fistric, 23, has one goal and seven assists for eight points in 48 games this season with the Stars. The 6-3, 234-pound blue-liner leads the Stars in plus-minus with a plus-15 rating. He has already set new career-highs in games (38), assists (5) and points (5), and scored his first career NHL goal on Oct. 22 at Los Angeles.

The Edmonton, Alberta native played in 36 games with the Stars last season recording four assists and 42 penalty minutes. He also played in 35 games with the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League (AHL) and collected two goals and five assists in the playoffs, helping Manitoba reach the Calder Cup Finals. In 2007-08, Fistric gathered two assists in 37 games with Dallas his rookie season, as well as skating in nine postseason games with the Stars.

Crawford on injuries

Here’s audio from Stars coach Marc Crawford talking about the injuries to Steve Ott and Mark Fistric, and the return of Mike Ribeiro:

Ott and Fistric out for trip

Some pretty big news out of practice this morning.

Steve Ott had an emergency appendectomy this morning. It went well. He will miss the road trip.

Mark Fistric skated this morning to test his knee, but it didn’t go well. He will have arthroscopic knee surgery. He will miss the road trip.

The Stars hope both will be back right after the Olympic break.

Mike Ribeiro will play tomorrow.

The Stars have called up forwards Ray Sawada and Francis Wathier. A defenseman is expected to be called up later.

Nothing changes at the goaltending position. It’s Marty Turco.

Ribeiro activated, Sawada and Wathier recalled

The Stars have activated Mike Ribeiro from IR. They've called up Ray Sawada and Francis Wathier as well.

Stars send Peters to AHL

The Stars have sent center Warren Peters back to the Texas Stars. Here’s the release:

The Dallas Stars announced today that the club has assigned center Warren Peters to the Texas Stars, Dallas’ primary development affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL). 

Peters, 27, has skated in 11 games for Dallas this season, recording one goal with a +1 rating. Peters has played 34 games for Texas in 2009-10, recording 19 points (13g, 6a) and 21 penalty minutes. The 6-0, 198-pound center signed with Dallas as a free agent on July 6, 2009.

The Dallas Stars’ next game is this Tuesday at the Chicago Blackhawks (7:30 pm CT, FOX Sports Southwest, Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket).

Stars-Coyotes photos

Shannon Bryne was at Saturday's Stars-Coyotes game and took several pictures, which you can find here.

Stars-Coyotes thoughts

I don’t think this one was rocket science. They were playing a team that was playing its second game in less than 24 hours and their game last night was a hard-fought game that went to a shootout. The Stars needed a strong start, and they got that. It was a better start than the last time the played the Coyotes, when it was basically the same situation. The Coyotes were playing their second game in less than 24 hours, but last time it was Phoenix that started strong and got the early lead.

The first goal was going to be key in tonight’s game, and the Stars got that this time around when Loui Eriksson set up James Neal in front of the net. As much as the first goal is key, so is the second one and the Stars got the turning point goal of the game when Neal set up Eriksson on a shorthanded breakaway and Eriksson cashed in. From the Coyotes perspective, they needed a save there and didn’t get it. As the team coming off the game the night before and being down 2-0, they were in some trouble.

It was the Jamie Benn show in the second period. He scored two goals to make it a 4-0 game and that was it.

Overall, it was a strong performance for the Stars. Regardless of the Phoenix’s situation coming into the game, the Stars played extremely well. Marty Turco turned in another strong game. He’s put together three straight excellent performances. The players in front of him were strong from the start of the game and physical, and it all added up to a big two points.

Eriksson and Neal hooked up on two big plays in the first. Benn had an outstanding game. Nicklas Grossman had a nice game, I thought. The Stars penalty kill, which was 6-6 on the night, was very good and Jere Lehtinen was a key to it.

That’s the last home game before the break and now they’ve got to find a way to get some points on the road in these last three games before the Olympics to keep pace in the playoff race. All three teams - Chicago, Calgary and Phoenix - are tough opponents. 

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