Dallas meets Minnesota tonight in a rematch from Monday night’s disastrous defeat. Monday’s loss pushed Dallas back down to tenth in the western conference. With a huge amount of Pacific Division games on the horizon Dallas needed to start winning and looked to start tonight.

First Period

Dallas opened the game establishing control of the puck in the Minnesota zone as they were sending a message to Wild goaltender Matt Hackett that tonight was not gonna be an easy game. Dallas’ pressure paid off early as Mikko Koivu took an early period penalty that put Dallas on their first powerplay of the game. Off an offensive face-off win by Jamie Benn, Ray Whitney had a slap shot set up for him and he fired the puck past Hackett for his sixth goal of the season. Dallas continued to apply offensive zone pressure and soon were rewarded with another goal at the 7:31 mark of the period when Tomas Vincour scored his second goal of the season. Dallas looked to have dominated the period outshooting the Wild 17-7 , but a costly mistake by Alex Goligoski led to a Wild goal as noted Stars killer Devin Setoguchi scored goal number twelve this season at the 18:48 mark or the period. The first period ended with the Stars up 2-1.

Second Period

It was another struggling second period for the Stars as Minnesota bounced back this period, and Dallas continued with their second period woes. The Wild tied the game on the powerplay off Jared Sturgeon’s fifth goal of the season after an undisciplined roughing minor by Brenden Dillon. Minnesota carried the momentum this period and until the final minutes when Dallas made an offensive push and the trio of Eric Nystrom, Jamie Benn and Jaromir Jagr almost took the lead right back, but outstanding saves by Matt Hackett kept the game tied at two after two periods.

Third Period

Dallas immediately went on the attack in the Minnesota zone to open the third and it didn’t take them long to score as Eric Cole scored his sixth goal of the season and third as a Star just over a minute into the third period. Soon after the goal Minnesota got into penalty trouble as Mikko Koivu and Ryan Suter were both called for seperate minors at the same time giving Dallas an early period 5-on-3 man advantage. It took Dallas only 10 seconds into the first powerplay to score as Jaromir Jagr passed to Ray Whitney, who drew two of the Minnesota defenders, passed to Jamie Benn who shot the puck into a wide open net as Hackett had commited to Whitney taking a shot. Benn’s goal was his seventh of the season and first in over a month, and the second assist which went to Jaromir Jagr was career assist number 1,000. Minnesota could not stay out of penalty trouble and their penalty kill didn’t bail them out. Dallas’ powerplay struck again at the 12:40 mark of the period as Cody Eakin scored his sixth goal of the season. Soon after the Eakin goal, Minnesota’s fourth line came out and was looking to let out some frustration. Zenon Konopka grabbed a hold of Reilly Smith and after trying to shove him into the Wild bench, Konopka dropped his gloves and started throwing punches causing all players from both teams on the ice to get involved. The scrum resulted in three game misconducts as Zenon Konopka was sent away, as was Mike Rupp from Minnesota who was throwing punches at Jaromir Jagr trying to draw him into a fight, Antoine Roussel was given a game misconduct as a result of coming to the aide of Reilly Smith.  Soon after the big scrum ensued Eric Nystrom was on the ice for the Stars and looking to respond to Minnesota’s aggresive play and challenged defenseman Justin Falk to a fight, as the Stars were not gonna end this game quietly. The rest of the period went without a spark as Minnesota did score another goal at the 19:00 mark, but Dallas’ big push on the powerplay in the third sealed the fate of the Minnesota Wild as Dallas wins this one 5-3.

Game Extras

• Congratulations to Mike Modano as he was named a member of the Dallas Stars’ 20th anniversary team
• Congratulations to Jaromir Jagr as the 12th player in NHL history to record 1,000 assist, and the first European born player.
• Richard Bachman recorded the win tonight. Kari Lehtonen was having an equipment issue in the third period and Richard Bachman came in relief. While Bachman was on the ice, Jamie Benn scored what would become the game-winning goal thus giving Bachman the win. Bachman played for two minutes and thirty-two seconds and didn’t face a shot on goal.
• Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, and Ryan Suter, three of Minnesota’s best players combined for 1 point and four minor penalties.
• Scoring Streaks: Jaromir Jagr’s four game goal streak came to an end, but he pushed his point streak to five games with assist 1,000 tonight.
• Jamie Benn’s goal tonight was his first since the Gordie Howe Hat Trick game against San Jose.
• Official Game Attendance- 17,376
• Official Three Stars of the game chosen by Mike Heika Dallas Stars Beat Writer for the Dallas Morning News: 1. Jaromir Jagr  2. Jamie Benn  3. Ray Whitney
• It’s an Easter showdown for the Stars in their next game as they continue their homestand against the Los Angeles Kings, puck drop at 5:00

It was the second game of a back-to-back for the Dallas Stars tonight as they traveled north to Minnesota to take on the Wild and see the new look of Minnesota, with offseason signings Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, and highly skilled prospect Mikael Granlund. Dallas called on 28 year old rookie goaltender Cristopher Nilstorp to take the pipes and make his NHL debut. Nilstorp had a fantastic debut, but the offense was unable to cash in.

First Period

The Stars opened the first period skating and seeming to pick up right where they left off last night even drawing a tripping minor on Wild captain Mikko Koivu in the first minute of the game. Dallas was able to create some chances on the power play but Minnesota goalie Josh Harding had an answer for everything, and the willingness of the Wild forwards and defenseman to drop to the ice and block shots hurt the Stars offensive game. After a set of penalties by both teams Minnesota controlled the puck in their offensive zone and kept the Stars pinned in their own zone for a long time and eventually cashed in as Zach Parise scored on a slapshot from the top of the slot at the 8:11 mark of the first period. The Stars had another powerplay opportunity at the 12:59 mark of the first period but that power play and the rest in the game struggled to get any offense going.

Second Period

In the second period, Minnesota really started to turn up the physical game, led by Cal Clutterbuck and Kyle Brodziak the Wild took many opportunites to finish their checks and physically wear out an already tired Stars team. The Stars were not able to gain a lot of time in Minnesota’s zone and also lost the puck possession game.

Third Period

The Stars looked exhausted as the third period came along as they didn’t have the same pep as they had in the third period against Phoenix. It looked like they were always late when they needed to be half a second quicker to make an offensive play and Minnesota’s persistent shot blocking shut down the Stars offense completely.

Other Notes

• Reilly Smith needed dental work after last night’s game against Phoenix, but joined the Stars Sunday afternoon to play in Minnesota
• Brenden Morrow left the game in the first period after taking a puck to the face that came of the stick of defenseman Stephane Robidas. Morrow got stitches and put on a visor and returned to the game in the second period.
• Dallas got 18 shots on goal, but Minnesota blocked 26 shot attempts tonight
• Stars first line of Loui Eriksson, Derek Roy, and Jaromir Jagr registered nine shots and seven points (3g,4a) in Friday’s victory against Phoenix. Against Minnesota the trio registered two shots on goal and zero points.
• The Stars will travel to Detroit to take on the Red Wings Tuesday as Detroit will be on the second half of a back to back when they take on the Stars. 

Dallas:

The Dallas Stars kicked off the shortened season with a 4-3 win over the Phoenix Coyotes in Dallas to make them (1-0-0).

New Veterans Ray Whitney and Jaromir Jagr had impressive nights and got the team off to a great stars along with Loi Erikkson who scored the game winning goal.

Kari Lehtonen saved 37 of 40 shots.

Minnesota:

The Wild got off to (1-0-0) start against Colorado with a 4-2 point win. And newly signed free agent Zach Parise, had a good night with two assists. Logging 23:09 of ice time, while Ryan Suter logged 27:05.

Niklas Backstrom saved 25 of 27 shots for the wild.

Notes:

• The stars were 3-1-0 last season against Minnesota.
• Aaron Rome is expected to be a scratch again tonight(Groin).
• Christopher Nilstorp is set to make his NHL debut tonight also.

Allen Defenseman, Trevor Ludwig is on his way to training camp with the Minnesota Wild of the NHL, after playing in his first game with their affiliate the Houston Aeros this past Sunday. He is one of three Allen Players to get a call up to the AHL (Mike Montgomery and Tyler Ludwig being the other two) in the affiliation bewtween the Allen Americans and the Houston Aeros.

Trevor has played in 31 games for the Americans this season and has 6 goals and 12 assists for 18 points.

The Americans are back in action when they hit the road this weekend with two games against the Arizona Sundogs in Prescott Valley, Arizona. The first game on Friday January 18th @7:05, and the second Saturday January 19th @7:05.

Saturday the Dallas Stars released their season schedule for the 48 game regular season. Since this season will be cut short due to the NHL lockout, there will be no cross conference games this season. All NHL will face two of their division rivals four times, and the other two five times. The remaining thirty games will be faced against the rest of their conference  three times each. The Stars are scheduled for seven sets of back to back games this season.

Below are some notable games for the Stars.

Saturday January 19th vs. Phoenix.  The first game of the season and home opener

Sunday January 20th @ Minnesota. The first time the Stars face the new look Wild with Zach Parise and Ryan Suter.

Friday February 8th vs Anaheim. Division rival Anaheim makes their way to the American Airlines Center to take on the Stars.

Saturday February 23rd vs San Jose. Adam Burish makes his return to Dallas with his new team, division rival the San Jose Sharks.

Thursday March 7th @ Los Angeles. The Stars will travel to the Staples Center and take on the defending Stanley Cup Champions Los Angeles Kings.

Monday March 25th and Friday March 29th vs. Minnesota. Minnesota will travel to Dallas and play the Stars March 25th and four days later these two teams will face off again in Dallas, no games in between for the Stars.

Monday April 1st – Friday April 5th vs Anaheim. Certainly in what is the oddest part of the season, the Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks will face off for three straight games against each other. Monday April 1st the two teams face off in Dallas, then Wednesday April 3rd and Friday April 5th the teams will play each other again in Anaheim’s Honda Center.

Saturday April 27th vs Detroit. Detroit will come to Dallas in what will be the final game of the regular season and final home game for the Dallas Stars.

You can view the full Stars’ schedule here

(Photo taken by Melissa Grissom)

The NHL Lockout is GREAT for business. Let me repeat, the NHL Lockout is great for business. With apologies to everyone who is being affected negatively by the lockout, this might just be the best thing to happen to the Steelheads. Let’s face it. Even though the Steelheads were able to make the conference semi-finals the last two seasons, it has been a bit of a struggle through the regular season. All anyone has to do is look back at least season and see the 10 game winless streak in February, or the lack of goal scoring at the start of the season for examples A and B.

This season should be different. There has been a coaching change as Hardy Sauter and the Steelheads decided to go separate directions after last season and Brad Ralph has been brought in from the Augusta River Hawks of the SPHL to right the ship. There is also returning talent from last season as Ralph has been able to re-sign Matt Case, Deron Cousens, Joe Pereira, Ron Meyers, Patrick Culity (who the Steelheads had the rights to via trade) and Jacob Cepis. The Steelheads have also added some fresh faces, more on them as we get closer to the season. Remember, this is about The Lockout being great for business.

The Lockout so far has cancelled all pre-season games through the end of September which also cancelled the Dallas Stars training camp and the scheduled game between the Stars and the Minnesota Wild. Not good for business. However, the Stars have assigned 26 players to the Texas Stars of the AHL. Roster limits are set at 23. Time for some math; 26 players and 23 spots leaves 3 players under NHL control without a place to go. Hello Idaho and the ECHL.

I don’t know which players will get assigned to the Steelheads, but you can almost be certain that it will be AHL level talent. The only assumption I will make is that the Steelheads are virtually guaranteed a goaltender from within the system. With Jack Campbell starting his career clock late last season, he played his way onto the Texas Stars roster. Add in the fact that the Stars signed Cristopher Nihlstorp to a one year two-way contract, and the Steelheads could be looking at either Josh Robinson who signed on an AHL deal back in June, or, a return trip from Tyler Beskorowany.

Don’t forget that the majority of players at the ECHL and AHL levels are “Free Agents” in that they are not signed or controlled by an NHL team. Let’s assume that on average NHL teams assign 10 players to their AHL Affiliate (300 players). All of those players are going to find a place to play, which means that there are now a little more than half the available contracts 690 (30 Teams x 23 Spots) available. This is where The Lockout is great for business.

Look at three signings that the Steelheads have made in just the past weeks since the Lockout became inevitable. Former Abbotsford Heat Center Justin Dowling, former Hershey Bears forward Andrew Carroll and Cullity. Between these three players the Steelheads have added over 200 games of AHL experience to their roster and 30 points. While those numbers may not sound spectacular, when you realize the competition they are playing against, I’ll take it. Carroll and Culity were signed after the Lockout was announced, but realize that the real trickle-down effect of the Lockout will not truly be realized until after AHL training camps start in a couple of weeks.

Here’s the payoff, the Idaho Steelheads fans enjoy winners. They enjoy a competitive product on the ice. They EXPECT a team that will contend for the division title EVERY YEAR. Due to the NHL Lockout and the subsequent trickle-down that will occur not only with Dallas & Texas Stars contract players, but with AHL level free agents looking for jobs, the games will be competitive, the Steelheads will once again contend for a division and conference championship and more fans will come out to watch, and THAT is great for business.

Mike Ribeiro might be traded (Photo taken by Melissa Grissom)

Finally draft day has arrived and many young NHL hopefuls will see their dream come true today, but behind the scenes NHL General Managers are also allowed to open trade talks between each other to move up spots in the draft or also trade players on their roster.

So now that brings us to Dallas, yesterday ESPN hockey analyst Pierre Lebrun posted an article stating that Dallas forwards Mike Ribeiro and Steve Ott are “getting attention”

Here’s a link to LeBrun’s article: http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/stars/post/_/id/18659/steve-ott-mike-ribeiro-getting-attention

In reality this is nothing new here in Dallas, almost every season since he came in the  2006-2007 season Mike Ribeiro‘s name has been circulating in offseason and trade deadline rumors. Here are a few examples:

Here’s one from our friend Mark Stepneski who was told by Joe Nieuwendyk that he had no intentions of trading Ribeiro. This article is from 2010: http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nhl/news/story?id=5568010

Here’s one from NBC Sports about Ribeiro to the Minnesota Wild also a 2010 article: http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2010/06/20/mike-ribeiro-to-the-wild-makes-sense-for-both-teams/

There are plenty more out there and some of those rumors were way out there, but would Dallas trade Mike Ribeiro or/and Steve Ott?

These trade rumors really started around trade deadline in February and really have never stopped since, but why didn’t Joe Nieuwendyk pull the trigger back in February when he had the chance, well obviously the right deal wasn’t in place. When shopping Steve Ott we are shopping a guy who plays center or wing  in all situations, is capable of putting up 20+ goal seasons and one of the top faceoff guys in the league, not exactly a guy you trade just for the sake of making a trade or shaking things up. So what would be the right deal that would ship Steve Ott out of Texas. Joe Nieuwendyk has pledged that he is looking to get younger and better so lets say James Van Riemsdyk or Jordan Staal’s names came across for Steve Ott would you say yes? (Both Staal and Van Riemsdyk have been involved in numerous trade rumors this past week)

And now Mike Ribeiro, in 461 career games as a Dallas Stars Mike Ribeiro has 407 points and in 31 career playoff games as a Star Ribs has 22 points so that is really close to a point a game player. So in a trade Stars are shopping there real #1 center, so in return you would expect the same back. Ribeiro was key in the production of Michael Ryder’s career year and the sometimes unstoppable chemistry between him and Brenden Morrow. So in Dallas they are really thin at elite centers professional and prospect wise, so trading your best one available before the season even starts already puts you in a hole production wise. So unless the deal is exactly how General Manager Joe Nieuwendyk wants it I do not see Ott or Ribeiro traded during this offseason.

Steve Ott and Mike Ribeiro are on Twitter: Follow them @Otter2nine and @Ribz63