Andrew's Dallas Stars Blog

Friday practice update

A lot of players out on the ice today. There were enough for five forward lines. Trevor Daley, Mark Fistric and Brian Sutherby all practiced with the team. Stars coach Dave Tippett said those three are close to being ready and that they’ll see where they are in the morning. Dan Jancevski wasn’t on the ice and according to the AHL transaction wire he’s gone back to Hamilton. That suggests one of the defensemen should get back in the lineup.

Tippett wouldn’t say who would start in goal Saturday. Marty Turco didn’t practice today. Tobias Stephan was the only goalie on the ice. Meanwhile, the Idaho Steelheads have announced that Matt Climie has been called up by the Stars and could start Saturday against St. Louis.  Here’s the Steelheads release on Climie.

Recently signed goaltending prospect Richard Bachman was in Frisco watching practice. Got a chance to talk with him for a good while and I’ll write that up as a story in the near future.

Here was the practice lineup on Friday:

Ott-Ribeiro-Lehtinen
Morrison-Wandell-Eriksson
Neal-Modano-Conner
Lundqvist-Begin-Brunnstrom
Parrish-Sutherby-Wilson

Defense (various combinations or at least the ones I saw)

Grossman-Hutchinson
Daley-Stafford
Sydor-Niskanen
Sydor-Fistric

Hicks and loan issues

Just got back from Stars practice in Frisco, but before I post on that there is some financial stuff involving Stars owner Tom Hicks. A British site, FINalternatives, had this to report today:

Private equity legend Tom Hicks’ sports team holding company has defaulted on more than $500 million in loans, a source has told FINalternatives.

Hicks Sports Group, which owns baseball’s Texas Rangers and hockey’s Dallas Stars, failed to make its interest payment on $525 million in syndicated bank loans on Monday. The group is now in talks with its lenders about a forbearance.

Meanwhile, Evan Grant of D Magazine’s InsideCorner Blog, has more on all this, including Hicks’ side of the story.

Rangers/Stars owner Tom Hicks said he is asking bank lenders “to be reasonable” regarding the interest payment on more than $500 million in loans relating to the two clubs and the assets of Hicks Sports Group.

Before we go any further, we should probably explain to our British friends that Liverpool Football Club is not among the HSG holdings and neither are any of Hicks’ other business interests.

An interest payment was due on March 31, but Hicks said Friday that HSG had elected not to make the payment. HSG is in the process of trying to negotiate with the 40 lenders to allow it to make the interest payment out of the interest reserve provision. Hicks must get approval from the banks that hold 51 percent of the loans to approve such a deal.

The banks, however, could place the loans in default early next week if a re-negotiation in terms is not reached.

“We’re optimistic that a satisfactory resolution will come together in the next couple of weeks with our lenders’ cooperation,” Hicks said by phone Friday morning. “The important thing is that none of this impacts either team or the fan experience at either venue. We’re prepared to fund the operations of both clubs for the next 12 months while we continue to seek additional investors.”

The rest of Grant’s post is here. 

Friday update

We are coming up on the end of the road here for the Stars. Their loss last night along with wins by the Ducks and Blues have pushed them to the brink of elimination. A win by Nashville tonight in Chicago will push them over the edge. That would give both Anaheim and Nashville 86 points and the Stars would not be able to catch either team. They could technically tie them in points but would lose the first tiebreaker, which is wins.

The Stars' tragic number is now down to one.

SportsClubStats.com puts their chances of making the playoffs at zero percent, but not out. They have a 0.1 percent chance of making the playoffs if they win their final four games.

Last night's games:

Calgary 2, Dallas 1
St. Louis 5, Detroit 4
San Jose 2, Edmonton 1
Anaheim 6, Vancouver 5 (SO)

RK	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	Friday
6	Columbus	77	40	29	8	88	idle
7	Anaheim	78	40	32	6	86	idle
8	St. Louis	78	38	31	9	85	idle
9	Nashville	77	38	31	8	84	at Chicago
10	Minnesota	77	36	32	9	81	vs. Calgary
11	Edmonton	78	36	33	9	81	idle
12	Dallas	78	34	34	10	78	idle

As for the draft lottery race, the Stars are currently in the ninth spot.

RK	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS
1	NY Islanders	77	25	43	9	59
2	Colorado	77	31	44	2	64
3	Tampa Bay	77	24	36	17	65
4	Atlanta	77	33	38	6	72
5	Los Angeles	77	31	35	11	73
6	Phoenix	78	34	37	7	75
7	Ottawa	77	33	34	10	76
8	Toronto	77	32	32	13	77
9	Dallas	78	34	34	10	78
10	Edmonton	78	36	33	9	81
11	Minnesota	77	36	32	9	81
12	Buffalo	76	37	30	9	83
13	Nashville	77	38	31	8	84
14	Florida	77	38	28	11	87

It’s almost over

Well, we all knew it was coming but the Stars are about to be officially done as far as the playoff race. It could as soon as Friday night. Their tragic number is down to one and if Nashville can win in Chicago that will finish them off. That would give both the Ducks and Predators 86 points and although the Stars could still tie them in points, they couldn’t catch either team in wins and would lose the first tiebreaker.

I don’t think there is a lot to talk about as far as Thursday’s game. They played OK. They were in the game until the end, but Calgary played a good road game, were strong defensively and Miikka Kiprusoff was solid in net. It reminded me of the last Calgary win over the Stars. Nothing spectacular, but just what the Flames needed.

Probably the most interesting thing of the night was Les Jackson’s appearance on The Ticket’s postgame show. He was on there for about 30 minutes and talked about a lot of topics. His top priorities upgrading the defense and getting some help for Marty Turco as far as a backup.

One of things he was asked about was whether Sergei Zubov would return. Here’s what he had to say.

“I think we would all like to see Zubov back with our team and I think that’s his desire as well,” Jackson said. “But he’s 38-years-old and he’s been hurt for two years. I think for us to enter next year and not look to replace that player or complementing him, shame on us. Good for us if he comes back, but I think we have to err on the side of caution and find somebody else.”

On goaltending, he indicated the goal was to have a backup that could provide capable relief for Turco. Jackson said he believes a lighter load for Turco would lead to a better Turco.

“Looking ahead, we need to look at Marty playing 55 to 60 games and giving him some support,” Jackson said. “Try to get someone in here capable of winning us some games. I think if we do that we’re going to get a better Marty.”

On his evaluation of Dave Tippett, he offered this.

“I think anybody involved with our team this year - myself included - has to look in the mirror and say what did I do to help the team. I don’t think it is any different with Tip,” Jackson said. “We’ll sit down and review everything that has gone on this year. I think from the outside - with the injuries and that - he’s done a good job. He’s a good coach. If we was to be released from our team tomorrow, he’d have a job probably within a week. He’s highly thought of in the the league. Some coaches have a shelf that they work on and I don’t know when it is with Dave. But he is a true Dallas Star. He works and he’s a bright guy. He’s one of the best bench coaches I’ve seen in a long time. I believe in him. I trust him. I would suspect, for the most part, the players believe in him. They’ve played for him. This year with all the injuries I think it is really hard to measure some of his work.”

A couple of other notes from the interview.

The status of Jere Lehtinen, who is unrestricted, is up in the air.

He expects Jamie Benn, the team’s highly touted prospect, to probably start off the season in the AHL next season.

He’s very high on defense prospect Philip Larsen, who played in the Swedish Elite League this season.

There’s a lot more, and you can listen here:

Here are some postgame quotes provided by Stars PR: 

read more...»

Thursday update

It's another big night in the Western Conference playoff race and today I am expanding it to look at what is going on at the top too.

First, however, the battle for those bottom spots. Only one game last night and that had St. Louis losing 3-1 to Chicago. The Blues missed an opportunity to use their game in hand on the pack to gain ground. They stay in ninth, one point out of a playoff spot.

The Blackhawks, on the other hand, picked up two big points in a very interesting battle for home ice in the first round. They are battling who ever is going to finish second in the Northwest for the fourth seed. Vancouver has tracked down and now leads Calgary by one point for the top spot in the Northwest and the Flames, who had looked like a pretty good lock for the third seed a couple weeks ago, are currently in fifth. Of course, the Flames are in town to face the Stars tonight and their desperation level should be very high. That said, they've been struggling lately, especially on the road.

Vancouver hosts Anaheim tonight. That's a game with big implications for both teams. The Canucks are trying to win a division title and the Ducks need every point they can get as they try to secure one of those final playoff spots.

St. Louis, coming off that loss to Chicago last night, plays at Detroit, tonight. The Blues are 0-4-1 against the Wings this season. The Red Wings are four points behind San Jose for first overall in the West.

The Sharks are at Edmonton. The Oilers, who have dropped to 11th and are three points out of eighth, desperately need a win to gain some ground or at least keep pace depending on what happens tonight.

As for the Stars, they are still hanging around but the odds are stacked against them.

According to SportsClubStats.com, their chances of making the playoffs are less than one percent, but if they win their final five games their odds of making the playoffs are up to 25.7 percent.

Their tragic number is still four. By my calculations, if everything goes their way, it would stay at four. Everything going their way would be a Stars win and both the Ducks and Blues losing in regulation. If everything doesn't go their way - they lose in regulation and both Anaheim and St. Louis win - it would be down to one.

RK	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	Thursday
1	San Jose	76	50	15	11	111	at Edmonton
2	Detroit	76	49	18	9	107	vs. St. Louis
3	Vancouver	76	42	25	9	93	vs. Anaheim
4	Chicago	76	41	24	11	93	idle
5	Calgary	76	43	27	6	92	at Dallas
6	Columbus	77	40	29	8	88	idle
7	Anaheim	77	39	32	6	84	at Vancouver
8	Nashville	77	38	31	8	84	idle
9	St. Louis	77	37	31	9	83	at Detroit
10	Minnesota	77	36	32	9	81	idle
11	Edmonton	77	36	32	9	81	vs. San Jose
12	Dallas	77	34	33	10	78	vs. Calgary

As for the NHL Draft Lottery standings, the Stars rank ninth among the teams that are not currently in the playoff picture or that have been eliminated.

Rk	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS
1	NY Islanders	76	25	42	9	59
2	Colorado	77	31	44	2	64
3	Tampa Bay	77	24	36	17	65
4	Atlanta	77	33	38	6	72
5	Phoenix	77	33	37	7	73
6	Los Angeles	76	31	34	11	73
7	Ottawa	76	33	33	10	76
8	Toronto	77	32	32	13	77
9	Dallas	77	34	33	10	78
10	Edmonton	77	36	32	9	81
11	Minnesota	77	36	32	9	81
12	St. Louis	77	37	31	9	83
13	Buffalo	76	37	30	9	83
14	Florida	77	38	28	11	87

Wednesday update

The Stars are still mathematically in the playoff race, but barely. Stars picked up one point on eighth place last night, so they are six points out with five games to go.

The big winner last night was Anaheim, which knocked off Edmonton and moved into a tie with Nashville, which lost to Columbus. The Ducks get seventh place right now based on having more wins. The Predators hold down the 8th spot. St. Louis has one game in hand on everybody and that game is played tonight when the Blues play at Chicago. At win would push the Blues into seventh place. The win by the Blue Jackets was a big one for them because they got a little separation from the pack.

The Stars tragic number is four according to nhlplayoffrace.com.

In case you are wondering, SportsClubStats.com gives the Stars a 20 percent chance of making the playoffs if they win all five of their remaining games. Those chances drop to 2.1 percent if the Stars go 4-0-1.

Tuesday's games:

Dallas 3, Los Angeles 2
Columbus 2, Nashville 1
Vancouver 2, Minnesota 1 (OT)
Anaheim 5, Edmonton 3

RK	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	Wednesday
6	Columbus	77	40	29	8	88	idle
7	Anaheim	77	39	32	6	84	idle
8	Nashville	77	38	31	8	84	idle
9	St. Louis	76	37	30	9	83	at Chicago
10	Minnesota	77	36	32	9	81	idle
11	Edmonton	77	36	32	9	81	idle
12	Dallas	77	34	33	10	78	idle

Here's how the non-playoff teams stack up as far as the draft lottery standings. The Stars are currently in ninth.

RK	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS
1	NY Islanders	75	25	41	9	59
2	Colorado	76	31	43	2	64
3	Tampa Bay	77	24	36	17	65
4	Atlanta	76	32	38	6	70
5	Phoenix	76	32	37	7	71
6	Los Angeles	76	31	34	11	73
7	Toronto	76	31	32	13	75
8	Ottawa	76	33	33	10	76
9	Dallas	77	34	33	10	78
10	Edmonton	77	36	32	9	81
11	Minnesota	77	36	32	9	81
12	Buffalo	75	37	30	8	82
13	St. Louis	76	37	30	9	83
14	Florida	77	38	28	11	87

Back in the win column

The Stars are finally back in the win column. I thought they played a pretty good game and special teams were the difference. They got two goals on the power play and the penalty kill came up big stopping the Kings on that lengthy five-on-three in the second period when it was 2-1 Stars.

Good game for Brendan Morrison. He’s been playing well lately and putting up some points.  I thought Marty Turco was OK. He had some big saves, especially on that penalty kill in the second period and when the Stars were protecting the lead. Andrew Hutchinson played a pretty good game.

Overall, they executed better in some key areas, didn’t give up a lot of quality chances and the goaltending was better. The chances of winning are going to rise under those circumstances. I didn’t think the Kings looked all that great, but they were coming off a long road trip. That happens. A win is a win, though, as Dave Tippett pointed out after a game. The Stars got plenty of issues on their end too.

I had to actually look back through the schedule to see when they last won a game. Couldn’t remember off the top of my head. It was March 14 against Minnesota. That’s a long time. If they had won a couple, it would be a whole different story right now. But, as it is, they are six points out with five games to go. Their tragic number is four.

They come back home for their final two regular season games at the AAC. Thursday against the Flames and Saturday against the Blues. 

Climie honored

Stars goalie prospect Matt Climie was honored as the ECHL goalie of the Week. Here’s the ECHL release:

Idaho Steelheads rookie Matt Climie is the Reebok ECHL Goaltender of the Week for Mar. 23-29.

The 26 year old was 2-0-0 with 41 saves while posting back-to-back shutouts against Ontario. Climie is 26-12-1 and leads the league with a goals-against average of 2.30 while ranking second with five shootout wins and tied for third with four shutouts. He has a scoreless streak of 120:12 and is 3-0-0 with two shutouts, a goals-against average of 0.67 and a save percentage of .969 in his last three starts.

He made 15 saves in a 3-0 win against the Reign on Wednesday and turned aside all 26 shots in a 6-0 win on Saturday. He is 8-2-0 with two shutouts, a goals-against average of 1.48 and a save percentage of .940 in his last 10 starts.

The 6-foot-3 and 215-pound netminder is 6-0-0 with three shutouts and goals-against average of 0.67 in his last six home games.

Climie played four seasons at Bemidji State University where he was 45-30-11 with 12 shutouts, a goals-against average of 2.40 and a save percentage of .910 in 95 games from 2004-08. He holds the BSU career record with 12 shutouts while his goals-against average and save percentage rank second.

Bachman contract length

When the Stars sent out the press release on the Richard Bachman signing last week it said it was a three-year entry-level deal. I got a look at the contract details today and it’s only a two-year deal that expires in 2010-11. Bachman is 21, which would indicate he would get a three-year deal but he turns 22 in July and article 9.2 of the CBA states:

As used in this Article, “age,” including “First SPC Signing Age,” means a Player’s age on September 15 of the calendar year in which he signs an SPC, regardless of his actual age on the date he signs such SPC.

As I read it, that makes Bachman’s signing age 22 and hence the two-year contract. I just pass this on for those who track this kind of stuff.

Tuesday morning update

Not much movement in the great Western Conference playoff race last night because the Stars-Phoenix game was the only one that had an impact on the race for those final spots and it really had little impact since the Stars are basically out of the picture. But it's a big night tonight. Nashville is at Columbus, Anaheim is at Edmonton and Minnesota hosts Vancouver.

Who would have thought at the beginning of the season that on March 31 I would be trying to work my schedule to be in front of the TV at 6pm Central Time to take in Nashville and Columbus because it's a huge game.

Monday's games:

Phoenix 6, Dallas 5 (OT)

The Stars' tragic number is down to five points.  It could stay there after tonight or drop as low as two depending on how they and other teams do.

RK	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	Tuesday
6	Columbus	76	39	29	8	86	vs. Nashville
7	Nashville	76	38	30	8	84	at Columbus
8	St. Louis	76	37	30	9	83	idle
9	Anaheim	76	38	32	6	82	at Edmonton
10	Edmonton	76	36	31	9	81	vs. Anaheim
11	Minnesota	76	36	32	8	80	vs. Vancouver
12	Dallas	76	33	33	10	76	Tue. at Los Angeles

As for the draft lottery standings, the Stars are still in the eighth spot.

Rk	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS
1	NY Islanders	75	25	41	9	59
2	Colorado	76	31	43	2	64
3	Tampa Bay	76	24	35	17	65
4	Phoenix	75	31	37	7	69
5	Atlanta	76	32	38	6	70
6	Los Angeles	75	31	33	11	73
7	Toronto	76	31	32	13	75
8	Dallas	76	33	33	10	76
9	Ottawa	75	33	32	10	76
10	Minnesota	76	36	32	8	80

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