Crawford on Brunnstrom

At the morning skate I asked Stars coach Marc Crawford about Fabian Brunnstrom, who was sent to the Texas Stars on a conditioning assignment. Brunnstrom, who has one goal and six assists in 23 games this season, is scheduled to return to Dallas in time for the January 14 game against Montreal. Here’s what Crawford had to say:

“The big thing with Fabian is he has to play. When you are playing in that fourth line role you only get five, six shifts or, at most, ten shifts to show your stuff. Fabian is used to playing a lot of minutes. He’s a skilled player with great puck protection ability and can make things happen down low, especially on a power play. We haven’t been able to afford him that opportunity this year because we have a depth of forwards and especially a depth of skilled forwards. 

“This gives him the opportunity to play a couple weeks with skilled people. He’s a coming off an injury a couple of weeks ago that I think is still in the back of his mind and that he’s never fully come back from. This will give him an opportunity to play lots of minutes and not only test his skill, but develop that maintenance and reliability you get from playing a lot of minutes.

“To his credit, Fabian recognizes that he has to get his career going. He’s only in his second year with Dallas, but quite frankly over the two years he hasn’t had the consistency to be in the lineup on a daily basis. That could change just like that. We appreciate the fact that he is taking this opportunity to further his career.”

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