The day started out as a questionable one for Dallas Stars’ fans as the news spread about  Alex Goligoski being a healthy scratch tonight versus the Edmonton Oilers. The Stars’ highest paid defenseman was not in tonight’s game against a young and talented Edmonton team, but the Stars did not need Goligoski tonight as Glen Gulutzan pushes to 5-0-0 against the Oilers in his young head coaching career.

First Period

It was a skating game to begin, but Dallas got the better of the scoring chances and out shot the Oilers to get the crowd out of the game early at the Rexall Place. Edmonton came into the game with a red hot power play, but an equally hot Dallas Stars penalty kill was put to the test late in the first. The Stars looked to have got the better of the scoring chances on the penalty kill, especially a dangerous shot from Cody Eakin who beat Edmonton goaltender Devyn Dubnyk only to have his shot hit the post. The Stars outshot the Oilers 12-9 as the first period ended with the score tied at zero.

Second Period

The game’s first goal came at the 3:21 mark as a mess of defense by the Dallas defenseman and bad positioning by Kari Lehtonen gave Ales Hemsky his fourth goal of the season. The Stars struck back about ten minutes later as Jamie Benn beat Dubnyk on a quick snap shot and looks like a hot streak is starting as that was Benn’s third goal in two games. Shortly after the Stars found themselves on the powerplay after a questionable hooking call on Ales Hemsky. The Stars took advantage of the powerplay as Derek Roy took a slapshot from the point that went past a screen Dubnyk. The Dallas Stars led the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 after two periods.

Third Period

The Stars shockingly took no penalties in the second period, but they saved them for the third along with the turnovers as well. The Stars took three minor penalties, the second one was fatal as a high sticking penalty by Stephane Robidas loaded up the Edmonton powerplay and rookie Justin Schultz tied the game with a slapshot from the point that went past Kari Lehtonen and tying the game at two and requiring the game to go to overtime.

Overtime

It took the Stars just 1:46 to finish the game. There were only two shots on goal. The first one was a wicked wrist shot by Jamie Benn creating a rebound that found the stick of Jaromir Jagr who then dances around the Edmonton defense and shoots the puck past Dubnyk and ending the game.

Game Extras

• Congratulations to Jaromir Jagr as tonight’s game winning goal was career goal 668 moving him to number ten on the all time list tied with Luc Robitaille.
• Dallas has been historically good against the Oilers, tonight’s victory pushes Glen Gulutzan to 5-0-0 against Edmonton as a head coach.
• Alex Goligoski was a healthy scratch tonight, which caused a big stir in the hockey community. Goligoski is the Stars highest paid defenseman and for all intents and purposes it looked like Goligoski was benched for this game.
• Aaron Rome looks to have benefited the most from Goligoski’s absence. Rome played over twenty minutes tonight and played in key penalty killing situations for the Stars.
• The Oilers came in with big injuries to their forwards already as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Captain Shawn Horcoff were out, but center Anton Lander left tonight’s game with a foot injury leaving the Oilers with one NHL ready center in Sam Gagner
• Official three stars of the game chosen by the TSN crew: 1. Ales Hemsky 2. Loui Eriksson 3. Jaromir Jagr
• Keep Dallas Pesky unofficial Star of the game: Jamie Benn
• The Stars will be home Friday to take on division rival Anaheim. Puck drop at 7:30

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?”

future of the Stars (Photo taken by Melissa Grissom)

Dallas Stars free agency campaign were a big player, as General Manager Joe Nieuwendyk backed by Stars owner Tom Gaglardi certainly completely changed the look of this team with the free agent acquisitions of Jaromir Jagr and Ray Whitney and trade acquistions of Cody Eakin and Derek Roy, but how will the lines look this season, what the team might be missing, and who else might suit up in a Dallas Stars uniform this season:

Line 1: Eriksson  Benn  Jagr

After the Jagr deal was announced media members stated on a board in GM Joe Nieuwendyk’s office there was a board with these three names written on it, obviously if Jagr can do with Loui Eriksson and Jamie Benn what he did with Scott Hartnell and Claude Giroux last season with the Philadelphia Flyers then this line will be a big threat of size and skill.

Line 2:  Whitney  Roy  Ryder

The remaining top offensive forwards will go to the second line where in Ray Whitney and Derek Roy you have guys who like to create plays and in Michael Ryder and once again Derek Roy who like to shoot the puck. The line is also a lot more capable of handling business on the defensive end of the ice, which is why Mike Ribeiro was dealt this offseason to have a better two way threat with his centers.

(Note: the third and fourth lines are complete speculation and how I would do the lines with the players left.)

Line 3:  Morrow  Fiddler  Vincour

Vernon Fiddler, one of only two Stars to play all 82 games last season would center the third line once again, but with new linemates in captain Brenden Morrow and young Tomas Vincour. Fiddler would be looking to keep up the pesky play he brought last season and Brenden Morrow will be looking for a bounce back season and Tomas Vincour will get more ice time with this new opportunity.

Line 4: Nystrom Eakin Garbutt/Wandell

This fourth line would be a real bunch of hard-working blue collar types who will simply outwork their opponents and this way Cody Eakin is not pushed too fast and can develop into the center that Dallas wants him to be. » Continue reading “Stars Lineup: Forwards”

It's Pardy Time (Photo taken By Melissa Grissom)

#27/ Defenseman

March 29, 1984 in Bonavista, Newfoundland, Canada

6’4/220 lbs

GP: 36

G:0

A: 3

P: 3

+/- -5

PIM: 16

Contract Status: One-year at $2 Million Dollars

No balloons at this party, just the big Newfoundland defenseman. The first of several free agents signed by Joe Nieuwendyk on July 1st, 2011 Nieuwendyk claimed that he and his professional scouts have had an eye out for Adam Pardy and liked his skating ability with such a large frame brought some much needed muscle and a beefier look to a rather small defenseman group. In Pardy he was looking for an opportunity to play everyday and beat his career high in games played in a season (57). That of course did not happen this season as the beginning of the year instead of Adam Pardy we had Jeff Woywitka 2.0, so often Pardy found himself a healthy scratch and denied ice time in favor of Jordie Benn and Philip Larsen.

On February 6th it was reported that Pardy had been assigned to the Texas Stars for a conditioning assignment, due to being a consistent healthy scratch for almost a complete month and he had a mutual agreement between Coach Gulutzan and GM Joe Nieuwendyk, where in two games with the Stars AHL affiliate Adam Pardy had 4 points (0G,4A) and was a plus 4.

What Adam Pardy brings is a big defenseman with a smooth skating ability who is able to jump up and join the rush and able to get back and play defense. With the unknown of who will still be here of our defensive core from the past season I believe it’s safe to say that Adam Pardy will once again be our seventh defenseman ready to play when an injury occurs or a player needs a night off. It was a tale of two seasons for Adam Pardy where he was consistently struggling and then after his short AHL stint he turned his play up a notch, here are the numbers

Jeff Woywitka 2.0 (first 18 games)

Goals: 0

Assist: 1

+/-: -8

The real Adam Pardy (Last 18 games/Post AHL stint)

Goals: 0

Assists: 2

+/-: +3 (including the last five games of the season where Pardy was a +5)

Although both Dallas and the Texas Stars did not make the post-season this year, there is still a lot of news and announcements coming out of both camps. As previously reported, the Texas Stars let go of their coaches Jeff Pyle and Jeff Truitt after a disappointing performance this year. The word around the Stars organization was that the replacement would be someone who was familiar with Glen Gulutzan‘s system. These rumors turned about to be correct when it was announced today that the new head coach of the Texas Stars would be Willie Desjardins (Duh-ZHAR-dihns).

With 27 years of coaching experience, Desjardins was my first choice for head coach. He has many years under his belt coaching young players, as his most successful years were with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers. Although we have not been apprised of the other official coaching candidates, my guess was that Paul Jerrard would not have wanted to leave the cush position he has with the Dallas Stars.

Desjardins will be introduced to the media at the Cedar Park Center Thursday June 14th at 11am. Texas GM Scott White and Dallas Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan will be in attendance as well. Dallas GM Joe Nieuwendyk had this to say about Coach Willie, “We believe that Willie’s track record as a teacher of the game and his ability to develop young players is a perfect fit for the Texas Stars. His knowledge of Glen Gulutzan’s system and his familiarity with our prospects will continue to improve player development between Dallas and the Texas Stars.” (Source: www.texasstarshockey.com)

From a Texas Stars fan perspective, I cannot wait for the season to start and believe that Desjardins is the perfect candidate to usher in a new era of young, talented players.

After a lackluster season that left Dallas’ farm team, the Texas Stars, fifth in the West Division, the change that came on April 16th was inevitable. To the dismay of many fans, coaches Jeff Pyle and Jeff Truitt were, as the Texas Stars put it, “relieved of their duties”. While we can only speculate the reasoning behind this decision and what goes on behind closed doors, one thing is certain: Who fills the coaching void left behind?

The argument has been made that whoever the new coach is, their system should closely mirror Glen Gulutzan‘s defensively-minded hockey style. When the point of the AHL is to develop players for the NHL, the argument makes sense. A few names have been thrown around, including Paul Jerrard, Willie Desjardins, and Darryl Sydor.

Paul Jerrard has been Gully’s right hand man for a long time. He was an assistant coach for the Iowa Stars, the Texas Stars, and now the Dallas Stars. Jerrard also has playoff experience, taking the Texas Stars all the way to the Calder Cup finals in the 2009-2010 inaugural season. He knows Gully’s system and is familiar with many of the players in the Stars franchise. He is the most logical choice.

Willie Desjardins has 27 years of coaching experience, backing all the way to 1985 when he coached for the University of Calgary. He also coached the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers for eight seasons, winning championships in 2004 and 2007. He has one year under Coach Gully, and of all three choices presented, certainly has the most experience under his belt.

Darryl Sydor is currently an assistant coach with the Minnesota Wild. He also has two Stanley Cup rings during his career, one with the Dallas Stars in 1999 and the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004. He was also an assistant coach with the AHL’s Houston Aeros, who won the Western Conference Championship in 2011. As a retired defenseman whose NHL career spanned from 1991-2010, he might be apt to lead the Texas Stars with Gully’s defensive system.

Whoever the Texas Stars choose as their new head coach, one can only hope that they have more success than Pyle and Truitt did. A repeat of this last season would be more than disappointing. We’ve seen the Texas Stars reach the Calder Cup finals. We would like to see them achieve the same success and beyond.