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Line Changes

Will This Ship Go Down Without A Captain?

by Damien Franco on November 22, 2008

Wow, so imagine my surprise to see my email inbox full of Dallas Stars news all reporting the worse thing that could have happened this season. Brendan Morrow is out. For six freakin’ months?!

Okay, deep breath.

Here’s the press release.

FRISCO, Tex. - The Dallas Stars announced today that the left wing Brenden Morrow is out indefinitely with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will require surgery. He is expected to miss up to six months. The club also recalled right wing Landon Wilson from Grand Rapids (AHL).”We are obviously very disappointed to hear the news about Brenden’s knee,” said Co-General Manager Les Jackson. “As our captain, he will obviously be missed, but we have every assurance that he can and will come back from this injury at 100 percent. There is a lot of hockey left to be played this season, and we are confident our team will rally together and keep pushing.”

Morrow, 29, has skated in all 18 of the Stars’ games to date, recording five goals and 10 assists for 15 points with 49 penalty minutes. He placed tied for second on the club in assists and points, second in penalty minutes and tied for fourth in goals.

The native of Carlyle, Sask., is coming off a 2007-08 season where he led the Stars in goals (32), power play goals (12), hits (260) and plus/minus (+23), and was second in points (74) and game-winning goals (7). Morrow added 15 points (9 goals, 6 assists) and 22 penalty minutes 18 Stanley Cup Playoff games last spring, as the Stars advanced to the Western Conference Finals.

Wilson, 33, has skated in 15 games with AHL Grand Rapids this season, earning eight goals and seven assists for 15 points with 37 penalty minutes. Among Griffins team leaders, he was tied for first in goals and tied for second in points.

The 6-3, 226-pound right wing has skated in 348 career NHL games with Colorado, Boston, Phoenix and Pittsburgh, collecting 111 points (50 goals, 61 assists) and 331 PIM. In 13 career Stanley Cup Playoff games, Wilson has earned a goal and an assist with 20 penalty minutes. His most prolific NHL season came in 2000-01 with Phoenix, when he collected 31 points (18 goals, 13 assists) in 70 games.

I can’t really imagine the entire impact that this will have on the team.

Let’s try to be optimistic here for a sec.

Here we go with some local fandom kool-aid.  We can still salvage this season!

The younger Stars that will have to come in and fill ice skates could blossom as this season may end up becoming a rebuilding year.

Here is some stuff from Mike Modano.

“You look at last season when Zubov was out, and people just stepped up,” Modano said. “Robidas stepped up, and the kids on defense really just played over their heads. I think we have to pull together as a team and look for something like that happen.”

And now, back to reality.

My biggest concerns come with the knowledge that some of our best and most consistent players are our oldest as well.

  • Mike Modano - 38
  • Sergei Zubov - 38
  • Daryl Sydor - 36
  • Jere Lehtinen - 35

These are some of the guys I want to win the cup with.  How much longer can we expect to see them around.  Another couple of years?  I can only hope.  I’d love to send Mike Modano and the rest of these guys to retirement with their names newly etched into the Stanley Cup.

The season is still young.  There are 64 games left so we aren’t without opportunity to turn this around.

I just hope that there is some wind left for these sails.

Onward ho!?

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Sitting One Out

by Damien Franco on October 29, 2008

Marty Turco hasn’t been doing so hot between the pipes. Everyone has been talking about it all over the news so you shouldn’t be too surprised to see that he will be sitting one out tonight as the Dallas Stars face the Minnesota Wild. Looks like Tobias Stephan will be stepping in tonight.

While I think it’s a good thing to get the young netminder some playing time, I do think that Dave Tippett wasn’t really thinking it would be this early in the season and under these circumstances.

Tonight’s game will at least give us a chance to see how things are going with Antti Miettinen, a former Star. I wasn’t happy to see him leave, but he’s arguably in a better place now as the Wild are hot right now. Currently at 6-0-1 they are the only remaining team without a loss.

Let’s hope we can change that for them.

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Offseason Changes

by brent on October 4, 2008

It has become commonplace in the NHL. Between the trades made at the end of last season and the off-season movement, every NHL team changes a large portion of their roster. So where does that leave the Dallas Stars, are we better than last year? Last year the Stars played in the Western Conference finals. Can we take the next step this year?

The 08-09 NHL season officially got underway Saturday in Europe. Before the Stars get started lets take a look at the off-season changes for our Dallas Stars.

Departures

Stu Barnes- Stu retired due to the affects of the concussions he accumelated over his career, the last of which was against the Sharks during the 08 playoffs. Fortunately Stu has joined the coaching staff of the Stars as an assistant coach.

Mattias Norstrom - Mattias retired at the end of the 08 season after 14 years in the NHL.

Niklas Hagman- Niklas signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent.

Antti Miettinen- Antti signed with the Minnesota Wild as a free agent.

Brad Winchester - Brad signed with the St. Louis Blues as a free agent.

New Faces

Sean Avery- Arguably the most significant off-season pickup by the Stars. Sean came to the Stars as a free agent after playing with the New York Rangers. One of those players you love to hate, unless of course he is on your team.

Fabian Brunnstrom - The hockey press was abuzz with news regarding the status of Fabian at the end of last season. Fabian came over from the Swedish Elite League. After being recruited by numerous NHL teams including the Detroit Red Wings, Fabian ultimately signed with the Stars.

Alexander Naurov - Alexander was a draft pick of the Stars in 2003. He has spent the last couple of years playing in the East Coast Hockey League.

Doug Janik- Doug was claimed off of waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks on October 2nd. A 6-2 209lb defenseman, Doug spent the 2006-2008 seasons as an every night player with the Tampa Bay Lightening.

Ivan Vishnevskiy - The 27th overall pick in 2006, Ivan has played in Russia since 2003.

Predictions

After pushing the eventual Cup champions to six games in the Western Conference Finals the Dallas Stars seem poised to take the next step and press for the Cup this year. Although we lost several role players, the core of the team is intact. Our young forwards and defenseman all made huge strides last year. In the net Marty has erased any doubt about his ability to perform in the playoffs. Brad Richards has had a full off-season to acclimate to the team. Sean Avery adds yet another skilled forward who everyone hates to play against.

With less than a week to go, I for one am counting the days until the puck drops on the 08-09 season for our Dallas Stars. When the spring roles around I expect to see the Stars making a serious run for the Cup.

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