Stars News and Notes: Catching up with Tom Wandell

It's been a little more than seven weeks since Stars center Tom Wandell's season came to an end due to an ACL injury that required surgery, and the 23-year-old is making steady progress on the long road to recovery.

Wandell, who suffered the injury in late January and then had surgery in early February, said he expects to be ready when training camp opens next season.

"I feel good," Wandell said Saturday at the team's practice facility in Frisco. "It's getting better slowly. I've got a lot of time. I have to be patient. It's a serious injury. Even though you feel good, you've got to be careful and slow down even though you want to go hard. "

He knows the routine. This isn't the first time Wandell has had ACL surgery. He had the other knee done six years ago when he was playing in Sweden.

"I know how it works," he said. "This one is much better than the last one I had."

The speedy Wandell, asked if he was worry if the injury would cost him any of that speed, joked: "I am going to be even faster next season."

Wandell turned some heads this season. He made the Stars' roster out of training camp and never looked back. He had 15 points (5 goals, 10 assists) and a plus-two rating in 50 games before the injury ended his season.

"All the games I played I pretty much felt good and then is came, the injury," he said. "I think I had a pretty good season. Even though the team wasn't playing that good, I was happy but not happy."

Wandell spent some time in Sweden during the Olympic break, but most of the time he's been in Dallas rehabbing the injury and watching and learning.

"I look at the guys like Ribby (Mike Ribeiro) and see what those guys do," said Wandell. "When I was on the ice I would look at them and try to do things better, but now I try to figure out where they are skating to be in the right at the right spot at the right time."

Wandell's a restricted free agent at the end of this season, meaning the Stars will retain his rights by extending him a qualifying offer.

Stars coach Marc Crawford said he sees a bright future ahead with the organization for Wandell.

"I thought that he had a great first year," said Crawford. "He's going to be a great player, not just a good player but a great player. I think we look at him as a player who has the ability to play an offensive role. He has the intelligence and commitment to play in defensive roles. He has a high hockey IQ. He's a great skater and a good person. He's going to be a keeper for his team for a while. We've missed him.

"On the other side, mainly his injury forced us to put Jamie Benn [at center]. We've now found that Jamie is pretty good centermen as well. We've got two great young guys that are continue to be centers and carry that center ice mantle for a lot of years for this team. I imagine as we move forward, they'll continue to rise up the ranks."

Practice notes

• Stars coach Marc Crawford said Marty Turco would get the start in goal Sunday.
   
• D Nicklas Grossman, who has missed the last two games with a back injury, skated after Saturday's practice, but will not play against the Avalanche.
  
  "He won't be able to play [Sunday], but he's progressing nicely," said Stars coach Marc Crawford.
   
• LW Brenden Morrow and C Mike Modano were given the day off from practice Saturday.

No help for Stars Saturday

The Stars, who are currently in 11th place in the West,  didn't get any help in the playoff race Saturday.

Detroit beat Buffalo 3-2 in overtime to move into eighth place in the Western Conference, one point ahead of Calgary and seven points ahead of the Stars.

Calgary, which is in ninth place, is six points ahead of the Stars.

St. Louis, which is tenth place, beat Columbus 5-1 to move two points ahead of the Stars.

No TV Sunday

Sunday's game against Colorado will not be televised, snapping a streak of 1,101 straight Dallas Stars games (including playoffs) that have been broadcast in the Dallas/Fort Worth area by a variety of carriers.

The game was originally among the choices for NBC's game of the week, but the network decided to go with Washington at Chicago. The Stars looked for a local carrier, but were unable to find one.

The game is being carried in the Denver area by the Altitude Network and will be available to Center Ice subscribers in the Dallas area because the league has lifted the blackout due to no local TV coverage.

The game will also be carried, as always, on KTCK 1310 The Ticket with Ralph Strangis and Daryl Reaugh calling the game.

The last time a Stars regular season game was not carried locally in the Dallas/Fort Worth area was April 4, 1997 when the Stars played at Anaheim.

Quotable

"Yeah, from a dead guy."

Stars forward Tom Wandell, when asked if he got a replacement tendon from a cadaver during his ACL surgery.