Stars announce Vishnevskiy recall
The Stars just sent out the release on the recall of Ivan Vishnevskiy:
The Dallas Stars announced today that the National Hockey League club has recalled defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy from the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League (AHL).
Vishnevskiy, 20, has appeared in 32 games for Peoria this season, scoring three goals and nine assists for 12 points with 14 penalty minutes.
The 5-11, 176-pound defenseman was drafted by Dallas in the first round (27th overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. Vishnevskiy played for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) last season, scoring 17 goals and 28 assists for 45 points in 45 games. He also appeared in 17 playoff games for the Huskies, scoring six assists with 16 penalty minutes.
Vishnevskiy is travelling to Dallas late this afternoon and is not expected to be in the lineup tonight for Dallas. The Stars host the New Jersey Devils tonight at American Airlines Center (7:30 pm CT, FS Southwest, News/Talk 820 WBAP).
Vishnevskiy recalled
Brunnstrom, Lundqvist to IR
The Dallas Stars announced today that the NHL club has placed left wing Fabian Brunnstrom and center Joel Lundqvist on Injured Reserve. Both were placed on the Injured Reserve List, retroactive to the dates of their respective injuries – Brunnstrom on Dec. 27, and Lundqvist on Dec. 20. Brunnstrom, 23, suffered a lower body injury on Dec. 27 vs. the Anaheim Ducks. He has appeared in 31 games for Dallas this season, scoring 10 goals and four assists for 14 points. Among NHL rookies, Brunnstrom ranks tied-for-fifth in goals, tied-for-14th in points, first in game-winning goals (4), and second in shooting percentage (22.2%). Lundqvist, 26, suffered a shoulder injury on Dec. 18 vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets. He has appeared in 10 games this season, scoring three assists. Lundqvist missed 21 games with a shoulder injury from Oct. 29-Dec. 16. The Stars host the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday, Dec. 31 at American Airlines Center (7:30 pm, FOX Sports Southwest, News/Talk 820 WBAP).
Tuesday practice update
Not much out of practice today. It was an optional skate, so a lot of guys weren’t out on the ice. Dave Tippett wasn’t there so there were no real updates. Fabian Brunnstrom was still wearing the protective boot.
Stars-Sharks thoughts
There’s not much you can say about this game other than the Stars played hard and well, and came up short against a very good team that got some great goaltending. Evgeni Nabokov was superb in net. He made some big saves and seemed in control most of the night. The only thing that got by his was a fluke goal off his own player’s glove.
The Stars power play didn’t help the cause, especially that five-on-three in the second period, but San Jose’s penalty kill is very good and, again, Nabokov played a role.
The bottom line is that when the Stars play like this they are usually going to get points. Dave Tippett said they played better Monday against the Sharks than they did Saturday against Anaheim, and I would have to agree. Despite the different outcomes, I’ll take Monday’s effort. Of course, I’ll always take points.
Here are the postgame quotes provided by Stars PR:
Continue reading»TSN on the Stars’ top prospects
TSN has an article up this morning on the Stars’ Top 12 prospects. Here’s an excerpt:
Although the Stars may not have the big name talent among their forwards do not underestimate them. With the likes of James Neal, Jamie Benn, Raymond Sawada, Colton Sceviour, Nico Sacchetti, Ondrej Roman, Sergei Korostin, Perttu Lindgren and Tom Wandell, a few of them might represent some of the second, third and fourth lines on the Stars in five years. However, the Stars are lacking the elite talent at the forward position, but that comes when you continually draft lower in the first round and trade your picks away. The two bright spots on the forward ranks are Neal and Benn who both could develop into solid second line forwards in the NHL. Every organization has one late round pick that nobody talks about but could turn into a surprise and the Stars prospect sleeper is Sceviour.
I agree that Sceviour could be a sleeper. He’s got 18 goals in 35 games with Lethbridge of the WHL this season. We’ve all seen what Neal can do and Benn, I think, is going to be a real good player too.
The full article is here.
Benn with three goals, two assists for Canada
Jamie Benn had three goals and one assist for Canada in its 15-0 rout of Kazakhstan at the World Junior Championship today. Benn scored two power play goals, including one on a five-on-three, and had one even strength goal. He was named Canada’s Player of the Game.
Sunday practice update: Brunnstrom day-to-day
The most significant news out of practice today is that Fabian Brunnstrom was wearing a boot on his foot. He got hurt in last night’s game, although it’s not clear exactly how. Anyhow, coach Dave Tippett officially listed him as day-to-day with a lower body injury. That was just a few minutes before Brunnstrom walked by us wearing the boot. If Brunnstrom can’t go, that possibly opens the door for Mark Parrish to get back in the lineup. Parrish took Brunnstrom’s spot on the line with Steve Ott and Mike Ribeiro today. Other than that the lines were the same as last night’s game. Joel Lundqvist, who is still dealing with the shoulder issue, practiced but was not in the mix as far as the top four lines. The lines were;
Petersen-Richards-Eriksson
Ott-Ribeiro-Parrish
Neal-Modano-Lehtinen
Barch-Sutherby-WIlson
Lundqvist
It was a pretty spirited practice with some pretty good one-on-one compete drills. Tippett wants to see that area ramped up as the Stars move forward here.
Sunday’s World Juniors schedule
All three Stars prospects - Jamie Benn (Canada), Sergei Korostin (Russia) and Ondrej Roman (Czech Republic) are in action today at the World Juniors. Here's the schedule for today:
| Teams | Time/TV |
| Russia-Finland | 1:30 p.m. |
| Kazakhstan-Canada | 2:30 p.m. (NHL Network-US/TSN) |
| Sweden-Slovakia | 5:30 p.m. |
| USA-Czech Republic | 6:30 p.m. (NHL Network-US/TSN2) |
Stars-Ducks thoughts
That was a big two points. It didn’t look good after Brendan Morrison scored his second goal to give Anaheim the 3-2 lead late, but the Stars found a way to tie it late on the goal by Mike Ribeiro and then got the big OT goal from Mike Modano.
Right now they are finding ways to win games and get points. Earlier in the season they were finding ways to lose games like this. Four of their last five games have gone beyond regulation and they’ve won three of those four that gone to OT or the shootout. Those are a big three points if you look at the standings right now. Take away those points and things don’t look so good. Those three OT/shootout wins came against Western Conference foes, so that means those teams are getting points too. That’s one drawback. Still, they are steadily gaining ground, but this is just getting them into a position for a long, long fight for a playoff spot/positioning.
That was a tough game against the Ducks, who played hard and gave the Stars some problems with their forechecking. It came down to a few little things and the Stars ended up on the right side of the equation. That’s the difference between winning and losing and the Stars are starting to find themselves on the right side of it more often than not.
They are starting to get some big games out of their big players like Ribeiro and Brad Richards. Modano hasn’t been popping in a lot of points lately, but he’s playing well and had the big goal Saturday night. James Neal continues to come up big. He had another goal and some great work and a nice play to set up Ribeiro’s goal that tied the game at the end.
Overall, these wins - save the blowout of Toronto - haven’t been pretty but they are starting to play better. They are in every game and winning a majority of them right now. That’s the bottom line. Some postgame quotes and a link to audio of Neal on The Ticket’s postgame show is below:
Continue reading»Another key stretch kicks off tonight
These next three games will be a good test for the Stars since they are all coming against teams up there in the standings - Anaheim, San Jose and New Jersey.
It starts with the Ducks, who weren’t playing well heading into the break. They lost two of three on the Western Canada road trip and have lost four of their last six games. They’ve lost Teemu Selanne for an extended period of time due to a thigh laceration, which is really going to put pressure on some others to step up to produce and take some of the pressure off the top line. They still take way too many penalties. That said, they’ll be rested and ready to go.
Like all games from here on out, these are big points. The Stars have gained some ground in the standings with the nice 7-3-1 run, but any kind of slide can put them right back where they were two weeks ago. There’s little room for error. But if they can keep the good run going, move some games over .500 and continue to do so then they’ll be in good shape.
But these next three and the next ten after that will be a good test. After this little homestand they hit the road for games in Edmonton, Vancouver, Phoenix and Detroit, and then they come home and play Detroit, Buffalo and Los Angeles. Those ten games could say a lot about how much things have turned around for the Stars.
Friday Practice update
The Stars were back on the ice in Frisco this morning after a couple days off for the holiday break. Not much news. Joel Lundqvist (shoulder) is still in a day-to-day mode. Dave Tippett said he was better today and they’d see where he is tomorrow. Lundqvist did practice today.
The lines were the same as Tuesday in Toronto with Mark Parrish being the odd man out and Lundqvist skating with him as a fifth line duo.
The lines broke down like this:
Neal-Modano-Lehtinen
Petersen-Richards-Eriksson
Ott-Ribeiro-Brunnstrom
Barch-Sutherby-Wilson
Lundqvist-Parrish
World Juniors begin today
The World Junior Championship gets underway today in Ottawa. All three of the Stars prospects playing in the tournament - Jamie Benn (Canada), Sergei Korostin (Russia), Ondrej Roman (Czech Republic) see action today. Here's Friday's schedule along with the TV schedule.
According to this story on NHL..com, 28 of the 30 NHL teams have at least one prospect playing in the tournament.
Some of the big names who will go in the 2009 draft - John Tavares (Canada) and Victor Hedman (Sweden) - are playing as well.The Germany-USA and Canada-Czech Republic game are both being carried live here in the U.S. by the NHL Network.
| Teams | Time/TV |
| Latvia-Russia | 1:30 p.m. |
| Germany-United States | 2:30 p.m. (NHL Network-US/TSN) |
| Finland-Sweden | 5:30 p.m. |
| Canada-Czech Republic | 6:30 p.m. (NHL Network-US/TSN) |
TSN lists Benn as a player to watch at World Juniors
With the World Juniors getting underway in Ottawa tomorrow, TSN has put together a list of top ten NHL-drafted players to watch at this year’s tournament. Among those on the list is Stars prospect Jamie Benn. Here is what TSN had to say about Benn:
Reason to Watch: The late round draft pick has excellent athletic ability with a knack for scoring clutch goals and could have a significant impact at the WJC.
Benn is an underappreciated forward in his draft year since he was playing in the BCHL, but showed his worth while dominating the WHL this season. A solid 6 foot 2 and 205 pound winger, he has shown the hockey sense to compete at the NHL level and thinks very quickly. Has very good puck skills as he can pass quickly and crisply, and can also stickhandle to create time and space. He seems to be at his best when he’s driving to the net and lingering in the slot since he has a nose for the net and a knack for clutch goals. This season already he has four short-handed goals, three game winning tallies, two first goals and six insurance markers out of 24 goals. Now that is clutch goal scoring.
Benn has soft hands and can deflect pucks in close to go along with a strong wrist shot and slap shot. He is tough to get the puck from when down low or in the slot and shows core strength and power beyond his weight. He has been training in the off-season with CrossFit, which is the same program that all the actors on the Spartan movie 300 got their size and strength from. He is a good skater overall and can be a little sneaky with his quickness. Benn displays the agility in tight areas to be effective.
You can check out TSN’s full list of players to watch here.
World Juniors
Jamie Benn scored another goal as Canada beat Slovakia 7-0 last night in the final exhibition game before the World Juniors get underway Friday. The NHL Network will be providing some coverage here in the United States, so you can watch if you are interested. More in the days ahead.
