Andrew's Dallas Stars Blog

Stars-Ducks thoughts

This was a tough loss. They did a great job to overcome the 2-0 deficit and take the lead and they gave two goals in a 91 second span of the third period and lost the game. Fourth loss in a row, which knocked them out of a playoff spot as far as the regular old points standings. Not sure where they’ll stand as far as points percentage. Not sure it matters right now. This little slump isn’t what they needed. It hasn’t doomed them, but it hasn’t really helped the cause either here. After tomorrow’s game against the Pens, who seemed to have turned things around a bit since the coaching change, it’s a tough road ahead for the Stars.

As for the game, I thought a lot of it turned on special teams play. The Ducks got the early lead on the power play, the Stars got back into the game with that power play to make it 2-1 and right after the Stars missed on a power play that could have extended the lead to 4-2, the Ducks tied it at 3-3 on that Corey Perry spin-o-rama goal. Just 91 seconds later James Neal coughs up the puck, Teemu Selanne scores and the Ducks have the lead for good.

The Stars were flat early, strong in the middle of the game and then a couple mistakes killed them at the end. It’s tough to win playing like that. 

I thought Mike Ribeiro was great. Best player on the ice. He could have used some help. He can’t be the offense all by himself. There needs to be some secondary scoring and that’s dried up right now.

On the Steve Ott stuff at the end, there had to be more to it than that little cross check he put on Scott Niedermayer there at the end of the game. This is probably something that had been building up over the course of the game, or maybe even longer. Anyway, J-S Giguere apparently had enough and away things went.

Ott got a match penalty for alleged eye gouge when he and Moen were down on the ice. He’s out for Sunday’s pending a review, which will come Monday. This just adds to the Stars woes, because it will be another key guy out of the lineup on Sundaya.

As for Moen, I am not sure why he didn’t get something beyond just the fighting major. He came all the way from the middle of the circle to the side of the net to start throwing punches at Ott.

Anyway, here are some postgame quotes provided by Stars PR, Ott’s postgame audio and the video of the end of the game. 

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Ott vs. Giguere/Moen

Here's the YouTube Video of Ott vs. Gigure/Moen. Ott got a match penalty out that. I think it's for what happened when he was on top of Moen at the end. You'll see the ref reach in and pull Ott's hand out of there. I believe it had to do with an eye gouge or something. More later. I am stil updating some other stuff.

Friday practice update; Avery update

Not a lot going on out at practice today. Several players were off the ice for rest reasons. Mike Modano, Jere Lehtinen, Mike Ribeiro and Steve Ott were among the players not out there.

Steve Begin did go through his first practice with the team. He’ll be wearing #44. There were no lines used in practice today, lots of two-on-two stuff, so it’s hard to say where he is going to fit as far as a line right now.

Joel Lundqvist, who missed Thursday’s game with the flu, practiced today. Dave Tippett said they’ll see where he is tomorrow and see if he can get back in the lineup.

As for Sean Avery, Sportsnet is reporting that the Stars are going to put Avery on re-entry waivers prior to Wednesday’s trade deadline and that the New York Rangers have committed to taking him.

Sportsnet has learned the Dallas Stars will place Sean Avery on re-entry waivers as early as Monday.

Avery will play in both AHL Hartford Wolf Pack games this weekend. The New York Rangers have committed to claiming Avery providing he was still available.

Here’s a little more from Steve Zipay’s blog at Newsday:

The Stars are preparing to place Sean Avery on recall waivers Sunday or Monday, I’m told, but that could change. The Stars are kicking the tires on trades and considering current and future cap issues.

Friday morning look at the West

The Stars find themselves in eighth place in both the regular standings and in the points percentage standings after last night's games. They're still bunched up with a bunch of teams at 65 points. The Blue Jackets, 1-0 winners over Edmonton last night, passed them in points percentage. St. Louis and Nashville - both winners last night - and the Kings are very much in the picture too right now.

Key games tonight: Minnesota at Calgary; Vancouver vs. Tampa Bay; Los Angeles at Detroit.

The points pace for the last playoff spot remains 89 points, which is seven games over .500.

Here's last night's action involving the West:

St. Louis 3, Dallas 1
Boston 6, Anaheim 0
New Jersey 4, Colorado 0
San Jose 2, Ottawa 1
Nashville 4, Phoenix 1
Columbus 1, Edmonton 0

The regular standings:

RK	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	Friday
1	San Jose	60	42	9	9	93	idle
2	Detroit	61	40	13	8	88	vs. Los Angeles
3	Calgary	60	36	18	6	78	vs. Minnesota
4	Chicago	59	34	17	8	76	vs. Pittsburgh
5	Vancouver	60	30	22	8	68	vs. Tampa Bay
6	Columbus	62	31	25	6	68	idle
7	Minnesota	59	30	24	5	65	at Calgary
8	Dallas	60	29	24	7	65	idle
9	Edmonton	61	30	26	5	65	idle
10	Anaheim	63	30	28	5	65	idle
11	Nashville	62	30	28	4	64	idle
12	St. Louis	61	27	26	8	62	idle
13	Los Angeles	60	26	25	9	61	at Detroit
14	Phoenix	62	27	30	5	59	idle
15	Colorado	62	28	33	1	57	idle

Here are the points percentage standings:

RK	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	PTS%
1	San Jose	60	42	9	9	93	.775
2	Detroit	61	40	13	8	88	.721
3	Calgary	60	36	18	6	78	.650
4	Chicago	59	34	17	8	76	.644
5	Vancouver	60	30	22	8	68	.567
6	Minnesota	59	30	24	5	65	.551
7	Columbus	62	31	25	6	68	.548
8	Dallas	60	29	24	7	65	.542
9	Edmonton	61	30	26	5	65	.533
10	Nashville	62	30	28	4	64	.516
11	Anaheim	63	30	28	5	65	.516
12	Los Angeles	60	26	25	9	61	.508
13	St. Louis	61	27	26	8	62	.508
14	Phoenix	62	27	30	5	59	.476
15	Colorado	62	28	33	1	57	.460

Stars-Blues thoughts

Well, I don’t know what to say. Another game where they created a lot of chances and ended up with very little to show. They got one goal and no points out of the game. The Stars make a few mistakes at the other end of the ice and the Blues cash in. That’s the difference in the game. That and Chris Mason, who has very good. He’s been great in goal for the Blues and is a key reason that team has been making such a strong push since the middle of January.

The Stars’ power play continues to struggle and that adds to the offensive woes. The Stars have 12 goals over the last eight games. The power play has scored just twice during that stretch. It’s tough to win when you don’t score because. as Dave Tippett said in his postgame comments, there is little room for error at the other end of the ice when you don’t score goals.

This month of February, which was supposed to be so favorable to the Stars because of all the home games, has not worked out as hoped. They are now 1-3-0 on this homestand and are 6-6-0 for the month. Not what they expected, I am sure. They are still hanging onto that eighth spot, but teams are gaining ground on them. They are now eighth in the conference in points percentage too.

It’s a big weekend ahead. Here are some postgame quotes from Stars PR and postgame audio from Tippett and Steve Ott. 

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Quick thoughts on the Begin trade

I like this deal for the Stars. It’s not flashy, but it is low risk and addresses a need with the long-term injuries to Brad Richards and Toby Petersen.

Begin’s a versatile player who can bring a lot of energy and kill penalties. He’s a relentless worker and considering the players out of the Stars’ lineup right now, work ethic is going to be a key down the stretch. Begin brings that. He’s unrestricted at the end of the season, so the Stars don’t take on any contract going forward and although he has a cap hit of $1,057,000 this season and a salary of $1,300,000, at this point of the season the cost is down to $233,000 and $287,000 as far as cap hit and salary.

Stars acquire Begin

Here’s the release from the Stars:

The Dallas Stars announced today that the club has acquired center Steve Bégin from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for defenseman Doug Janik. He is scheduled to practice with the club tomorrow (noon at the Dr Pepper StarCenter in Frisco).

“Steve is a gritty, honest player with a very strong work ethic,” said Co-General Manager Les Jackson. “He’s good on the penalty kill and he is a competitor in every sense of the word. We think he’ll be a very good addition to our group as we continue to fight toward the playoffs.”

Bégin, 30, has skated in 42 games with Montreal this season, recording six goals and four assists for 10 points with 27 penalty minutes. He led the Canadiens in hits for the months of November and December, and was fourth on the club in hits for the season (119).

The native of Trois-Riviéres, Quebec, has skated in 389 career NHL games with Calgary and Montreal, posting 46 goals and 38 assists for 84 points with 467 penalty minutes. The 6-foot, 187-pounder has also appeared in 23 career Stanley Cup Playoff games, all with the Canadiens, earning four helpers and 20 PIM. His most productive NHL season was in 2005-06 with Montreal, when he registered 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points and won the Jacques Beauchamp Molson Trophy as the Habs’ Unsung Hero.

Originally selected by Calgary in the second round (No. 40 overall) in the 1996 Entry Draft, Bégin won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as AHL Playoff MVP, scoring 17 points (10 goals, 7 assists) in 19 games to lead the Saint John Flames to the Calder Cup. He also skated for Team Canada at the 1998 World Junior Championships.

Morrow and the Olympics

The Regina Leader Post has an article on Stars captain Brenden Morrow and his aspirations to play for Canada at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. It begins this way:

Brenden Morrow’s comeback trail is all mapped out—and it leads straight to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

The Dallas Stars’ captain isn’t about to relinquish his candidacy for the Canadian Olympic squad, regardless of the fact that he hasn’t played an NHL game since Nov. 20 due to torn knee ligaments.

Morrow is still clinging to a slim hope that he’ll be fit to return sometime during this year’s playoffs, which would potentially give him a running start on the competition for Team Canada’s roster in the fall.

“When I was told I hurt my ACL, that was one of the first things that came to mind was how long was I going to be injured for—would I be healthy for the Olympic team?” offered the native of Carlyle. “I’ve represented Canada at different levels (the world juniors and world championship) but never been able to do it in the Olympics. Having it on a small ice surface probably fits my game a little better so I thought this was a good opportunity.”

Despite the injury, Morrow is believed to be among a group of elite players who will be given strong consideration by Team Canada executive director Steve Yzerman.

The rest of the article is here. 

Ducks, Penguins make a deal

From TSN:

The Ducks have shipped forward Chris Kunitz and OHL prospect Eric Tangradi to Pittsburgh for defenseman Ryan Whitney.

Here’s the TSN link. 

Tippett on The Ticket

Stars coach Dave Tippett was on The Ticket with Norm Hitzges this morning talking about a variety of things, including curling. The trade deadline also came up. Norm asked Tippett if he expected the Stars to do anything significant.

“I don’t know if we’ll do anything significant,” Tippett said. ‘I know Les and Hullie are both back there pounding the pavement just to see what’s out there. Right now, some injury replacement players is what I think they are looking at. I think they look at all the different options. You have to look at where we are right now, and I think they have a strong view of where they want this team to go in the future.

“So, all those things are balanced and if the right deal came along and I am sure if they thought they could make our group better they would do it. If not, we’ll continue to push our young players in, try to develop them and get them to be the best players they can be.”

Anyway, here is the audio from this morning’s interview. It ends kind of abruptly. There was a slight problem with the online feed.

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