The Dallas Stars, in preparation for their season opener against the Phoenix Coyotes this Saturday, announced a roster move that will send defenseman Mark Fistric to the Edmonton Oilers and in return will take a third round pick in the 2013 NHL entry draft. Mark Fistric first suited up for the Stars in the 2007-2008 season and Stars quickly saw what Fistric’s main objective in the league was. As a 230 pound defenseman he was able to use his size to physically remove his opponents away from the puck. Fistric is entering his sixth season in the NHL. His most successful year in Dallas came in the 2009-2010 campaign he played in 67 games for the Stars and registered ten points (1g, 9a) with a team high plus minus rating of +27 (Points, Assist, Games Played, and Plus/Minus are all still career highs).  That season saw Mark Fistric’s peak here in Dallas and he was never really able to build off of his success. The signing of Aaron Rome in the offseason gave thoughts that this move might happen at some point this season as Rome is a very similar type of player. The trade also opens an extra roster spot for NHL hopefuls Brenden Dillon and Jordie Benn.

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE STARS:

The Dallas Stars announced today that they have acquired Edmonton’s third-round pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for defenseman Mark Fistric.

Fistric, 26, has spent the last five seasons with the Dallas Stars, skating in 257 career NHL games and has earned 23 points (3G-20A) with 220 penalty minutes in that span. The 6-foot-3, 231-pound defenseman, led all Dallas defensemen with 235 hits last season and ranked third on the team with 105 blocked shots.

 The Edmonton, Alta., native was Dallas’ first-round selection (28th overall) in 2004.

(Photo taken by Melissa Grissom)

There was a lot of activity in Dallas during the free agency period. Several players departed Dallas to enjoy their careers elsewhere, but a few players headed to Dallas to pull on a Stars jersey.

GM  Joe Nieuwendyk surprised a lot of Dallas Stars fans as well as a lot of fans across the NHL in early July. He managed to work some magic and bring Czech legend Jaromir Jagr to Texas. The deal was announced on July 3^rd 2012, and was worth a reported $4.5million.

I am really hoping that a deal is made and the lockout won’t occur. Jagr is on a one-year deal and the 2012/13 could be the only chance to see him in a Stars shirt. He will also be massive to the hopeful success on the ice. I expect him to form a formidable first line alongside Jamie Benn and Loui Eriksson. Jagr is superb at puck distribution, and if Jamie and Loui can get themselves in the right positions, we could see a lot of goals from this line. Jagr has a massive 988 assists in the NHL, he will certainly develop the game of his peers.

Another big addition for the Stars was center man Derek Roy. He was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres in a trade involving Steve Ott and Adam Pardy. It is as simple as this: Roy was acquired to be a top 6 forward and replace Mike Ribeiro who departed to the Washington Capitals.

The Ottawa native will bring a lot to Dallas. With over 500 games to his name, the 29-year-old brings a lot of experience, and also has the ability to be a relatively big points scorer, scoring 60+ points on 4 occasions.

Another asset of his game is the crucial one for me, and this is his ability to perform on the power play. The Stars’ power play was average at best last season. It lacked structure and rhythm, managing to score just 33 goals throughout the season. I am hoping that this is an area of the game that they will be working hard on in training camp. Roy will be an integral part of this, and if the power play can get going, the team will benefit with positive results.

The third big addition was of Ray Whitney from the Phoenix Coyotes. He is another experienced player and a points scorer as well. This is a great addition for Dallas. He has well over 1000 appearances in the NHL and over 1000 points. He is getting on a bit, aged 40, but he is still a great hockey player.

I think that Whitney will help form the second line alongside Michael Ryder and Derek Roy. These guys might take a bit of time to gel, but if they get going I think they will bring the best out of each other. The Stars lacked depth last season, and a lot of scoring was done by the first line. 2012/13 will be different, the second line will take a lot of pressure off of the first line, and should benefit the team as a whole.

With other new recruits including Cody Eakin and Aaron Rome, and some promising draft picks, the Stars are starting to look like a decent outfit for next season!

Stars Practice (Photo: Melissa Grissom)

When the regular season begins the Dallas Stars will be looking to make the playoffs, after missing the postseason in four straight years.  This off season was very productive for the Stars in free agency and in the trade market, as they completely changed the look of the team, with the free agency signings of Jaromir Jagr and Ray Whitney, plus the off season trade acquisitions of Cody Eakin and Derek Roy, Dallas looks to roll with a deep lineup game in and game out to push for the playoffs. So what questions do the Stars have to answer? What do people say when they look at our organization?

» Continue reading “What Questions Do the Stars Face This Season?”

OH KARI LEHTONEN (Photo: Bridget Samuels/Flickr)

2011/12 was a breakthrough season for Kari Lehtonen, as his astounding performances made the rest of the league stand-up and take note. He was the reason that Dallas had any sort of playoff hopes towards the back-end of the last campaign. The team regularly depending on him, and he showed up every time.

On his way to a save percentage of .922, Lehtonen made some mind-blowing saves that needed to be watched over and over again to see just how he kept the puck out of the net. He recorded 4 shutouts and finished with a record of 32-22-4.

Next season will be a big year for Kari. I think his very good season last year has given him the ‘elite’ goalie status, putting him up there with the best in the business. His stats are good but not great, and this is down to the large amounts of pressure put on his shoulders, as he was regularly facing 30+ shots a game last season.

I am hoping that Kari will be provided with more rest time next season. Richard Bachman had a fantastic rookie season last year, with experience from that as well as the training throughout the summer, I think he will be a very good back-up. He will be trusted to play more games next season and this will allow Lehtonen more time to rest.

The 2012/13 season will be slightly different for Kari in terms of who he will have in front of him. Last years physical force, Sheldon Souray, has gone to divisional rivals, the Anaheim Ducks. The Stars signed Aaron Rome from the Vancouver Canucks as a replacement for Souray, and Kari will need to get used to some different styles of players in front of him. Jordie Benn could also be given a few more minutes this season in defense after signing a 1-year contract.

I feel that the Stars defensive unit is looking good, and I hope that Kari will face less shots than last season. Last season he was facing a lot more shots than other goalies, and it is a tough job for goaltenders to keep up high standards throughout the season.

It will be difficult to beat the great season that he had last year, but I think Kari can do it. With a decent defensive unit in front of him and more rest time, I hope he has a huge season, guides Dallas to a playoff spot and also pulls on an All-Star jersey, something he deserved to have done last season in my opinion.

(Photo taken by Melissa Grissom)

NHL 13 is the new hockey video game created and published by Electronic Arts in their sports division. Electronic Arts is also responsible for such video games as The Sims franchise and the legendary Madden franchise. NHL has come a long way in developing its hockey series including new things each year like Winter Classic Mode or the use of NHL legends which were new features in NHL 12, or the constant work they put into their already successful modes such as the EASHL (Electronic Arts Sports Hockey League) which is an online mode in which players ”create a pro” and through playing online games build their players attributes from rookie to legend status, or HUT (Hockey Ultimate Team) which is a league in which players create the ultimate team through the use of hockey cards starting off with a bunch of players not really heard of around the world and then working to build the ultimate team.

Earlier this week the team and player ratings for NHL 13 were released and including a statement from EA saying that they have changed their system of rating players. In NHL 12 players attributes and overalls were considered by their playing style so many times tough guys had higher overalls than a two-way forward or grinders, but that didn’t mean they were a better player. For example George Parros in NHL 12 had an overall of 82 as a tough guy and Alex Goligoski’s overall was 83. That doesn’t mean that George Parros is just as good as Goligoski, but as a tough guy he is 83 overall not as a general hockey player. For NHL 13 they have based the overalls on the players skills overall and not by what type of player they are, so for starters this season George Parros will have a rating of 69. Below we will look at the Dallas Stars’ updated team rating and player ratings from the end of NHL 12 and the starting ones for NHL 13

» Continue reading “NHL 13 Dallas Stars Team and Player Ratings”

Stars Defense (Photo Taken By Melissa Grissom)

In free agency the Dallas Stars didn’t make as many headlines in defense as compared to the forward group with the signings of the rugged veteran defenseman Aaron Rome and big Tyler Sloan, who will provide the veteran leadership in Austin with the Texas Stars, but the big moves in Dallas defensive and goalie groups are happening within the organization itself, it’s been awhile but the Dallas Stars cupboard is just packed with young prospects, and not just any but scouts have them reaching the NHL at some point in the near future, but for now let us look at the NHL team.  With the departures of Adam Pardy and Sheldon Souray and the addition of Aaron Rome the Dallas Stars defense for the part will look the same as it did last season with a few changes, but let’s look at the pairs and see how things might work out:

(note: I completely put these lines together how I would have done it, please feel free to disagree with me and make suggestions)

1st Pair: Larsen-Goligoski

Alex Goligoski led the Dallas blueline in points for a second straight season, “The Goose” has continued to log lots of ice time ever since the Dallas Stars acquired him in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins back in 2011 and the defense is completely not the same with him out of the lineup. A lot can be said for Philip Larsen, in the 2011-2012 season he proved he was NHL ready and was very impressive as it seemed he just developed right before everybody’s eyes each game, but this year can he take it up a notch as certainly now he has drawn the competitions eye and they will be going for him.

2nd Pair: Daley-Dillon

Joe Nieuwendyk had a lot to say about young Brenden Dillon, and if his play with the Texas Stars last season and what he showed in his NHL debut in game 82 against the St. Louis Blues then he is as NHL ready as they come and who better to mentor him as a partner than the longest tenured Dallas defenseman in Trevor Daley. Daley certainly isn’t what everyone wants him to be, but the thing he is that is a fact is consistent and will show Dillon the NHL ropes real well as he still has a lot to learn

3rd Pair: Fistric/Rome- Robidas

The third pair will consist of the never quit warrior in Stephane Robidas and the competition of physical stay at home defenseman between Aaron Rome and Mark Fistric any combination of these three will be able to punish opposing players with big hits and solid stay at home defense.

» Continue reading “Dallas Stars Lineups: Defense and Goalies”