Andrew's Dallas Stars Blog

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. 

Postgame notes and quotes

Here are some postgame notes and quotes from Stars PR.

 

The Bottom Line:

The Dallas Stars defeated the Phoenix Coyotes 4-0 on Saturday night at American Airlines Center, moving their record to 26-21-11 on the season for 63 points. Dallas’ next game will be Tuesday at the United Center against the Chicago Blackhawks (7:30 p.m. CT – FOX Sports Southwest; Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket).

 

Stats and Stuff:                          

·         Dallas is 10-2-0 in their last 12 at American Airlines Center. The Stars have registered at least one point in 17 of their last 20 games at American Airlines Center (15-3-2), and in 21 of their last 25 (17-4-4).

·         Overall, the Stars are 7-4-0 in their last 11 games.

·         Marty Turco stopped all 34 shots he faced tonight in earning his third shutout of the season. Over the last three games, he has stopped 98-of-101 shots (97.0%) with a 1.01 goals-against-average (GAA). Over his last 10 HOME starts, Turco has a 93.0 save percentage and a 2.21 GAA.

·         James Neal potted his team-leading 23rd goal of the season to go along with his 19th assist of the season. He has three points in his last three games (2-1-3).

·         Loui Eriksson picked up his third assist in as many games as well as his team-leading second short handed goal of the season (third of his career). The three-game assist-streak ties his season-high and is one game shy of his career-high.

·         Jamie Benn recorded his first multi-goal game of his career and third multi-point game of the season. He has three goals in the last three games (3-0-3) and five in the last 10 games (5-0-5).

·         Brad Richards had his 45th assist of the season. He has points in the last three games (2-1-3) and has earned a point in 22 of his 27 games at AAC this season.

·         Brenden Morrow earned his 17th assist of the season and fourth in his last five games (0-4-4).

·         Steve Ott collected his 12th assist of the season and 10th point in his last 13 games (4-6-10).

·         Karlis Skrastins gathered his ninth assist of the season and second in his last three games.

·         Matt Niskanen was credited with his 11th assist of the season.

·         THREE STARS OF THE GAME: 1) Jamie Benn, 2) Marty Turco, 3) James Neal

 

Brenden Morrow:

(On Benn)

"He was in good spots to get open looks at the net and he put them in the back of the net when he had the chance."

(On Turco)

"He was strong, he made some real big saves. The guys did a good job of cleaning up in front of him and when it did get by, he was athletic enough to reach behind and make that second save."

James Neal:

(On setting a tone and getting a good start)

"Phoenix has played us tough all year, so we knew what we were up against, and we came out and were physical right off the bat, and put a lot of shots on Bryzgalov."

"Everything we got our sticks on - we wanted to put bodies to the net and shoot it. We did that, and we were physical. It was a good start."

(On getting all aspects of the team game going)

"Everybody was plugging away, and that's our depth. We need that if we're going to make a big run here for the playoffs. So, it was good to see tonight and a good way to finish off at home."

(On his goal and Eriksson's shorthanded goal)

"Loui hit me backdoor. It was kind of an open net, so it was nice. And then Loui got the jump on the penalty kill there, and I found him. When he gets a chance like that, he's going to bury it."

Marty Turco:

(On how well he is seeing the puck)

"I'm seeing it pretty good. It just helps to have good balance and to be able to move well. That always aids my patience - that allows me to stand in there and wait to see the puck and react accordingly and not get ahead of myself. But that coincides hugely with our guys blocking shots that I can't see and giving me the ability to see pucks, and them cleaning out rebounds like they did numerous times tonight. So it's always been a work in progress, and a team effort, and those guys gave me a huge chance. And when we score four goals, I like our odds."

(On his technique, if he worked on anything in particular in the time off, and what's coming up)

"Once the body moves, in a way, less is more at times. Just move only in the ways that you need to. And that just gives me that much more control. Up goes the patience, up goes the confidence. But the body actually feels a lot better. It was nice to work on some things while I wasn't playing, but a couple of games really doesn't do it for me. We are out of the playoffs, we're scratching and clawing on the road, and we've got three huge ones coming up and a huge one in Chicago. I can't say how big it is to go in there, a tough game, to collect points, but we have to. We're just in that position so we're going to have to be just as good, if not better, and we're going to have to do like we did tonight."

 

    

      Marc Crawford

(On tonight's game)

We had a strong game tonight. We haven't had a lot of games where we're really comfortable coming into the third period. We did a lot of things that we needed to do. We knew they were a team that this was their third in four nights with travel, and you've got to make it a hard game. The last time we played them we didn't get off to the good start. Tonight I thought we were better, and we did things that made it difficult on them. We outhit them by more than 2-1 in the first period, and there were a lot of good purposeful hits that I think demonstrated we were determined to play a real strong game. Oftentimes that's the attitude and the emotional characteristic you want to show in a game where you know the other team is fatigued.

(On Turco's last three games)

He's played very well in the last three. Probably the biggest thing he needed was a break; he didn't want it to be as long as he got it, but all you can do in those types of situations is prepare for your next outing. We've got a day off tomorrow, so hopefully he'll get a good rest tomorrow, practice on Monday. Definitely he's feeling good about himself right now. You can see it in his body language, you can see it in the way he moves the puck, and it couldn't come at a better time for us.

    

      Dave Tippett:

(On tonight's game)

"When the players are coming back the bench and the look on their face is "really I'm trying," but nothing's happening, that's probably a good indication. We knew we were going to be low on energy tonight, and this is two times in a week when you've got to turn around like this. That being said, you've got to get in these games and find ways to win."

"Last night's game, you could tell after the game, it took a huge toll on us. That was a hard, hard game, went in to overtime, late, late travel. You've got a fresh team sitting here. You know they're going to come hard at you. What you're hoping to do is make sure you get some saves and make sure you capitalize on some opportunities and we didn't get that done tonight."

(On Bryzgalov)

Well, you're looking for some saves there, but we also didn't score any goals to help him either. It's a two way street there. Our whole group looked tired without a doubt.

 

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