Texas Stars victory (Photo credit to Stephanie Robinson)

 

TEXAS STARS GOAL!! Jamie Oleksiak with a filthy wrister past Smith’s right side! Stars now up 2-0! #TxStars

— Texas Stars Hockey (@TexasStars) October 25, 2012

Jamie Oleksiak netted his first professional goal in last nights 3-1 win for the Texas Stars over the Milwaukee Admirals.

The Stars started fast and dominated the first period of action at Cedar Park Center, out-shooting their opponents by 12-5. They took a deserved lead to the dressing rooms as Travis Morin scored on the power play from a nice Francis Wathier feed. Jordie Benn grabbed the further assist.

Despite the second period being a goalless one, it was still a decent one to watch. There was a lot of physicality on show as well as several great saves from Stars goaltender Jack Campbell who stood strong to keep his teams lead.

Texas would have been desperate to get a second goal to double their lead, and they did that through Jamie Oleksiak. Oleksiak, who was drafted by the Dallas Stars in 2011, received a nice drop pass from Cody Eakin before firing a wrist shot past Jeremy Smith.

Milwaukee managed to get on the scoreboard to set up a tense last five minutes. Mark Van Guilder cleverly tipped in a shot from the point to take the score to 2-1. The Admirals pulled their goalie in a last ditch effort to grab an equalizer but the Stars managed to score in the empty net and win the game by three goals to one.

It was a promising performance for the Texas Stars. Jack Campbell looked impressive and stopped 23 of 24 shots. Jamie Oleksiak scoring his first professional goal will certainly boost his confidence and hopefully set him up for a decent campaign.

With the victory the Stars improve to a record of 3-3-0. On Sunday they travel to Oklahoma to face the Barons.

Brett Ritchie (Photo taken by Melissa Grissom)

HOUSTON, TX- The Texas Stars faced off today against the Houston Aerosin Houston and ended the night with a 5-1 loss.

While Houston quickly out shot the stars within the first ten minutes of the game, it was Aeros rookie Charlie Coyle that found the back of the net first just 4:49 into the first period making  Later in the first period on a power play Aeros Marco Scandella made it 2-0 at the 18:12 mark. Immediately the referee waived it off as no goal, resulting in the first ever video review in a Texas Stars game.

After an uneventful scoreless second period, the Texas Stars get on the board with a rebound goal from Alex Chiasson, which just happened to be his first of the season, with the assists going to Francis Wathier and Jamie Oleksiak. And that seemed to get the momentum going but was quickly put back down when the Aeros make it 3-1 at 9:44 from David Mclntyre. Zach Phillips scored an unassisted goal at 13:46 and the final nail in their coffin came at 19:13 when Brian Connelly scored their second PP goal of the night making the final score 5-1.

GAME NOTES

Shot totals: Houston-30, Texas-27

Texas Scratches: D-Sloan,RW-Sceviour(injury),C-Vause,C-Glennie,D-Coyle, and C-Tousignant.

Three Stars: 3- Zach Phillips, 2-Marco Scandella, 1-Brian Connelly.

Goalie: Cristopher Nihlstorp vs. Matthew Hackett

The next game is tomorrow against the same team at 7:00 pm at Cedar Park Center

Reily Smith A Big Part of the Stars Future (Photo Taken By Melissa Grissom)

The one thing that the Stars currently lack in their armoury is a player who will score you a lot of points on a consistent basis, such as Crosby with the Penguins and Stamkos with the Lightning. Jamie Benn and Loui Eriksson will always be 60-80 point players, but have the Stars found an even bigger scorer?

It is a huge label to stick on such a young guy, but the numbers in his career suggest that Reilly Smith can score goals. He represented Toronto Nationals in the Greater Toronto Hockey League and recorded a massive 157 points at just 17 years of age. The Canadian also played in the Ontario Junior Hockey League and impressively recorded successive 50-point seasons.

The NHL is faster and more physical than any other league and it can take the best of players by surprise when they make the switch. Is Reilly Smith an exception to that? He played 3 games for the Stars last season, and his first shift in the NHL was both impressive and promising. It was at Rexall Place in front of a loud crowd in Edmonton where Smith grabbed the puck for the first time in the NHL. He didn’t panic and strode towards the offensive zone, releasing a powerful wrist shot which was saved. This speaks volumes about his future in the NHL.

Smith definitely has the skill to be an effective goal scorer in the NHL, but he definitely needs to work on his physical size. An 82-game season is a long time and takes a lot out on the body. A big summer lies ahead for Reilly to get as strong as possible.

There are some really good players coming through the ranks in Dallas. Smith played the 2011/12 season for Miami University and recorded 30 goals. Who was the only player to score more than Reilly Smith? Austin Smith, a Stars prospect playing for Colgate.

Other youngsters on the radar include Brenden Dillon, a big defenseman who somehow ended up not getting picked in 2 NHL drafts. The Stars monitored his progress and decided to give him a contract last year. He had a successful season for the AHL Texas Stars, recording 55 appearances. Jamie Olesiak,the Stars’ number 1 pick in 2011, made the step up to the OHL, playing 59 games and scoring 32 points. Jack Campbell is also developing quickly, and will add strength to Dallas’ very good goaltending unit in years to come.

So, the future is very bright for the Stars with some awesome young talent starting to emerge. The question as to when Reilly Smith will be a regular on the Stars roster is yet to be answered. Whether he plays next season or in five seasons time, I think this guy is definitely one to watch.