Andrew's Dallas Stars Blog

TSN says Richards broke his wrist

The Dallas Stars called Brad Richards’ injury tonight an upper body injury. TSN says it’s a broken wrist:

The surging Dallas Stars are awaiting word on how long they may be without Brad Richards.

The former Conn Smythe trophy winner suffered a broken wrist when he was drilled into the boards by Blue Jackets forward Jakub Voracek during the second period of Monday’s Stars victory.  He scored a goal earlier in the game.

Richards will meet with a specialist on Tuesday to determine the extent of the injury and necessary treatment.

The dealing has begun

The trade deadline is a little more than a little than two weeks away, but the selling and buying has begun: From TSN:

The Atlanta Thrashers have traded defenceman Mathieu Schneider to his former team, the Montreal Canadiens.

In exchange, the Thrashers receive a second round draft pick in 2009 and a third round selection in 2010.  In addition to Schneider, Montreal receives a conditional pick at this year’s draft.

Stating the obvious: Another big two points

The Ducks lost last night 8-4 to Atlanta (ouch!), but the Canucks beat Montreal. So the Stars dropped down a spot to sixth. That sets up tonight’s game against seventh place Columbus, which is just one point behind the Stars. The Blue Jackets are playing well. They’ve won four in a row and Steve Mason is back after a bout with mono. The Blue Jackets probably have a little extra motivation after getting blitzed 7-3 by the Stars last time around. Stating the obvious, but this is a big two points. That will be the case Thursday too when Edmonton comes to town and the game after that and the game after that....

The Stars seem to be in a bit of a rut here recently. Mike Heika of the Morning News throws out this observation this morming.

Play well, and you keep playing well. Play well, and you keep the lines and the pairings the same. Play well, and you have confidence.

The NHL is an interesting circle of momentum. If you have it, the game is just so much easier.

Right now, the Stars don’t have it.

They are juggling lines and defense pairs, they are starting to get some bumps and bruises. Stars coach Dave Tippett ran a short, optional practice Sunday and allowed his players some rest time. Jere Lehtinen appears slowed by some unexplained injury. The same with Steve Ott.

I’ve been wondering about Lehtinen and Ott. They had a day off at practice last week and maybe that was it.

Anyway, back to the team as a whole. I agree with Mike that they appear to be fighting it a bit right now. Marty Turco masked some of that against Vancouver. It was very evident against Chicago, when even Turco couldn’t bail them out. We’ll see how it goes against Columbus tonight. The Stars - as I and others have said many times - have little margin for error the rest of the way. They can’t afford a Vancouver type 0-5-3 run or a 1-7-1 stretch like they had after last season’s trade deadline. It’s just too tight this season. Prolonged bad stretches have to start somewhere, which means you have nip them in the bud and that can start tonight.

Standings watch: Stating the obvious

Needless to say it but I'll say it anyway: the standings are tight. The Stars lost last night and both Edmonton and Columbus gained ground with wins and the Kings picked up a point in a shootout loss to the Oilers. The Ducks and Canucks both both play at home tonight and have a chance to pull ahead of the Stars. All that games in hand stuff has started to even out. The Ducks have played a few more, but even that number has dropped.

Yesterday's games in West:

Chicago 6, Dallas 2
Edmonton 3, Los Angeles 2 (SO)
Columbus 5, Carolina 1
Nashville 3, Boston 2 (SO)
Ottawa 5, Minnesota 3
Calgary 7, Phoenix 5

Here are the regular standings. Six teams ranked fifth through tenth separated by two points. It's just five points if you go down to 12th place Los Angeles and the Kings have at least one game in hand on everybody at this point. To stay in the race the Kings are gong to have to play very well on the road, where they play 19 of their final 28 games. Phoenix and St. Louis are going to have to go on great runs to make the playoffs at this point. The Coyotes, for example, would need to go something like 17-7-1 over their final 25 games to hit 90 points, which seems to be the pace to be in competition for a playoff spot. The Blues would need 18-8-1 or some other combination that puts them 10 games over .500 over their final 27 games. Colorado is almost out of hit at this point.

RK	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	Sunday
1	San Jose	53	37	7	9	83	at New Jersey
2	Detroit	56	37	12	7	81	vs. Colorado
3	Calgary	56	33	18	5	71	idle
4	Chicago	54	31	15	8	70	idle
5	Dallas	55	27	21	7	61	idle
6	Columbus	56	28	23	5	61	idle
7	Anaheim	57	28	24	5	61	vs. Atlanta
8	Edmonton	55	28	23	4	60	idle
9	Vancouver	55	26	21	8	60	vs. Montreal
10	Minnesota	55	28	24	3	59	idle
11	Nashville	56	27	26	3	57	idle
12	Los Angeles	54	24	22	8	56	idle
13	Phoenix	57	25	27	5	55	idle
14	St. Louis	55	23	25	7	53	idle
15	Colorado	56	25	30	1	51	at Detroit

Here are the points percentage standings. The Stars are still in fifth in that respect too, but it is just as tight as the regular standings. If the Canucks win tonight they would be in basically a tie with the Stars in points percentage.

RK	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	PTS%
1	San Jose	53	37	7	9	83	.783
2	Detroit	56	37	12	7	81	.723
3	Calgary	56	33	18	5	71	.634
4	Chicago	54	31	15	8	70	.648
5	Dallas	55	27	21	7	61	.555
6	Vancouver	55	26	21	8	60	.545
7	Edmonton	55	28	23	4	60	.545
8	Columbus	56	28	23	5	61	.545
9	Minnesota	55	28	24	3	59	.536
10	Anaheim	57	28	24	5	61	.535
11	Los Angeles	54	24	22	8	56	.519
12	Nashville	56	27	26	3	57	.509
13	Phoenix	57	25	27	5	55	.482
14	St. Louis	55	23	25	7	53	.482
15	Colorado	56	25	30	1	51	.455

Avery plays in Hartford

I watched the first part of the Hartford-Manitoba game Saturday night on AHL.com since Sean Avery was in the lineup, and he still technically a member of the Stars organization. I thought he looked OK, considering he hasn’t played since November 30. Showed some good jump, made a few nice plays - NHL plays - and looked a little rusty at times. There were a couple of minor scrums. Here’s the Canadian Press recap of his night:

Controversial forward Sean Avery appeared in his first competitive hockey game in two months with the American Hockey League’s Hartford Wolfpack on Saturday night.

Avery was involved in two minor scrapes in Hartford’s 4-1 loss to the Manitoba Moose in front of 5,899. Avery was suspended by the NHL for six games in December for making a crude remark about other hockey players dating his former girlfriends.

The 28-year-old left wing played almost 20 minutes and took three shots on goal.

“I felt good,” Avery said. “I was a little nervous. It’s been a long time since I’ve played.”

Avery was in the middle of two scraps, one early in the first period, and the next with 2:26 to play in the second. He was not assessed a penalty in either of the small shoving matches.

“A couple of guys said something. Nothing I could probably repeat,” Avery said. “That’s the type of things that help me play better.”

Avery admitted to firing a few barbs, but claimed he held back.

“I had a few comments, but nothing that was too drastic,” Avery said. “Or something the old Sean would say.”

The rest of the article is here. 

Stars-Blackhawks thoughts

There’s not much to say about that game, it was brutal from the Stars’ end. Marty Turco was good and kept them in the game as long as he could, but he wasn’t gettiing much help. I felt bad for Brent Krahn. The guy gets his first NHL game and Chicago scores 42 seconds into the third because the Blackhawks are buzzing around the net and Krahn isn’t getting a lot of help.

I was impressed at how much jump Chicago had and how little the Stars had. I didn’t expect that. I thought it was a pretty energetic start to the game, but Chicago kept going and the Stars faded away. It just turned into a mismatch.

You’d expect more urgency. They had a chance to gain ground on Chicago, but the reality is that they are a lot closer to 10th and 11th place right now. There is still very little room for error. One slump and they could find themselves on the outside looking in again as far as a playoff spot. All this nice run has done has gotten them into the middle of the fight. It didn’t win them the fight.

Big game in Columbus Monday. They are all big.

Janik’s going to the AHL

It looks like Mark Fistric is coming up to the Stars because Doug Janik is going to get some conditioning time in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs.  Janik hasn’t played in a game since December 20, so he needs to see some game action. Here’s the release from the Stars:

Frisco, Tex. – The Dallas Stars announced today that the NHL club has assigned defenseman Doug Janik to the Rockford Ice Hogs of the American Hockey League (AHL) for a conditioning assignment.

Janik, 28, has appeared in 13 games for Stars this season, earning one assist with two penalty minutes. He was claimed off waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks on October 2, 2008

The Agawam, Mass., native has appeared in 159 career NHL games, scoring three goals and earning 13 assists with 121 penalty minutes. Janik was Buffalo’s second round selection (55th overall) in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.

Janik is scheduled to join the Ice Hogs immediately. Rockford hosts the Rochester Americans tonight.

An interesting note on Fistric’s call up

Here’s one interesting note on Mark Fistric being called up to the Stars today. He won’t be playing for Manitoba tonight when they play in Hartford, where Sean Avery is expected to make his return to action. From this morning’s Hartford Courant:

Forward Sean Avery will play his first game with the Wolf Pack tonight at the XL Center, providing a boost for a team that stopped a two-game losing streak Friday night.

Defenseman Corey Potter scored two goals 73 seconds apart in his first multiple-goal game, and he also had an assist as the Pack defeated the Lake Erie Monsters 6-2 before 3,815 at the XL Center.

Dallas assigned Avery to the Wolf Pack Tuesday. A Pack spokesman said the team plans to use him when it faces Manitoba.

Stars recall Fistric

The Stars have recalled Mark Fistric from the AHL. Here’s the release:

The Dallas Stars announced today that the NHL club has recalled defenseman Mark Fistric from the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Fistric, 22, has appeared in 35 games for Manitoba this season, earning eight assists with 26 penalty minutes. He was originally assigned to the Moose on November 2 from the Stars. Fistric has played in 11 NHL games this season with Dallas, earning one assist with four penalty minutes.

The Edmonton, Alberta, native has appeared in 48 career NHL games with the Stars, earning three assists with 28 penalty minutes. Fistric also played in nine Stanley Cup Playoff games with Dallas last season, going scoreless with eight penalty minutes. He was Dallas’ first round selection (28th overall) in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

Fistric is scheduled to join the Stars today in Chicago, where the team will take on the Blackhawks at United Center at 7:30 pm (CT, FS Southwest, News/Talk 820 WBAP).

Stars-Canucks thoughts

That was a big win in what is a key stretch of three games in four nights. Marty Turco was the difference in the game. He was great. He’s been playing very well here quite some time now and this was another good effort. He’d probably like to have that first goal back, but he shut the door after that. He made big saves to keep it a 1-0 game and then he made big saves to protect the lead once the Stars got it.

Once again his ability to play the puck has an impact on the game. Most of the time he is frustrating the opposition’s forecheck or helping the Stars transition out of their zone. In this one he helped set up a goal with a long pass during a line change and Loui Eriksson got the puck to Joel Lundqvist and Lundqvist made a nice shot for what ended up being the game-winner.

Overall, it was a tough game. The Canucks, playing their third game in four nights, played very well and Jason LaBarbera was good in net. It could have gone either way, but the difference was Marty.

That’s 25 straight games for Turco. Does he need a rest? He doesn’t look like it right now. I think they take it on a game-by-game, day-by-day basis on how they handle his workload.

“We chat everyday and see where he’s at. If he’s feeling good and he gives us the best chance to win then he’s going to play,” Stars coach Dave Tippett said.

When asked if there’s a chance Brent Krahn could play Saturday against Chicago, Tippett said: “There’s a chance of everything.”

Tomorrow’s game in Chicago is big. The Blackhawks played Friday night as well, losing 1-0 in St. Louis. The interesting thing about the Hawks is that they are coming off a long eight-game road trip. Teams tend to struggle in that first game back home after one of those for whatever reason, so it will be interesting to see how they respond. Their last home game was before the All-Star break.

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