OT Stars Hockey

[WastinSomeTime]

The Stars actually finished with a better record than last year and missed being the top scoring team in the NHL by 1 point yet their point differential was +1. That is all you need to know to realize what the problem was this year. If they do what they did last year defensively this is a whole different result. 238 GA last year compared to 260 this year.

 

[ESPN Refugee]

I'm sure hockey is probably not in anyone's radar at this point but the playoffs have been great thus far and 2 fantastic games tonight including the Hawks/Wild playing right now on NBCSN.

 

[WilltheThrill]

I figure I'd get a little Stars hockey talk going again since the Draft is this Friday, a bunch of trades are about to go down between now and then, and the team has already re-signed and let go of a few players.

So far, it's been all good news.

Nemeth and Jokipakka re-signed and epic Nieuwendyk draft bust Scott Glennie was finally released.

Word is that the Stars are going to bring back Patrick Eaves on a cheap deal.

Horcoff was told he wouldn't be re-signed.

Hemsky had offseason surgery to correct a problem which had him playing at about 75% the whole year.

Jim Nill is pressing hard to trade for a legit backup goalie to challenge Kari for the #1 spot. Talbot, Lack, Lehner, Ramo, and even Dubnyk (if the Wild don't re-sign him) have all been mentioned as possibilities. All would be big improvements over last year's group.

Also, the Stars are said to be asking around to cap problem teams about taking some salary off their hands. Patrick Sharp's name has come up a lot in Stars rumors, although the Hawks' current asking price is insane.

 

[WilltheThrill]

Also, I'm not sure if anyone here follows the NHL Draft or studies up on the prospects at the top of the draft class, but I've gotten to where I follow and study the NHL Draft more than any other sport.

There is a consensus Top 5 this year, with McDavid going #1 and Eichel going #2, followed by some combination of Dylan Strome, Mitch Marner, and Noah Hanifin. So unless the Stars go bold and trade up, we can forget about those 5.

There are about 8-10 guys very close in skill who should be drafted between picks 8 and 18. So it's really hard to guess which might be available for Dallas at 12 and which they might select. Nobody seems to know just how Nill and co. rank those 10 or so guys. But based on the numerous scouting reports I've read and videos I've watched, I really hope they get one of: Barzal (C), Werenski (D), Konecny (C-W), or Connor (C). Crouse (W), Meier (W), Zacha (C), and Rantanen (W) have also been mentioned as potential Stars picks, but I'm not as big of a fan of theirs as some other people seem to be.

 

[Justinkm83]

Stars acquired Antti Niemi

 

[WilltheThrill]

Stars acquired Antti Niemi

Actually they acquired his exclusive negotiating rights, as he is a RFA. That is why it only cost them a 7th round pick. They only have until July 1 to sign him or else he becomes a free agent, but I just read that they are making significant progress toward getting him signed.

He probably has taken a step back from his peak a few years ago, but he's still a starting-quality NHL goalie and certainly an upgrade over what they rolled with last year. I could see something like a 60/40 timeshare with Kari this season, especially if Kari starts shitting the bed like he did last season. Who knows... maybe Niemi is our full-time starter by season's end. There is a ton of instability with their goaltending situation, so I'm glad Nill brought in a veteran to somewhat stabilize things.

 

[WilltheThrill]

A buddy of mine and I got to talking about "Mount Rushmores" for individual sports teams, where you choose 4 (and only 4) legends of that franchise who best represent the team to be carved into the mountain. For the Rangers, we agreed pretty easily on Nolan, Pudge, and MY, and then couldn't decide between Beltre, Juan Gonzalez, Palmeiro, Sundberg, and Greer for the last spot. We agreed that any of those would make a decent choice.

But the Stars were much harder to decide upon. So I wanted to see who you guys would choose from the history of the Dallas Stars as the 4 most important, popular, representative, successful, etc.

Modano is a no-brainer, so that's 1. But then you've got about 9 or 10 legit candidates for the last 3 spots: Lehtinen, Zubov, Hatcher, Hull, Belfour, Morrow, Turco, Benn, Seguin, or even their announcer Razor Reaugh. How do you pick just 3 from that list?

I ended up choosing Modano, Lehtinen, Zubov, and in a close call Jamie Benn over Brett Hull and Razor Reaugh. I went with Lehtinen and Zubov because they were the 2 most important pieces to the 99 Cup team. Lehtinen was so good for so long and won many Selke trophies as Modano's wing man, pun intended. Zubov was and still remains the best defenseman to ever play for Dallas. I went with Jamie Benn as the 4th just because he is kind of like the new Modano, the face of the franchise and current captain. Plus he just became the first Stars player ever to win the Art Ross trophy. Hull did score the Cup-winning goal, but he was only with the team for a short run. And I really hated leaving Razor off because he is synonymous with Stars hockey and the best in the business. But in the end I went with 4 players.

Do you agree with my picks, or would you perhaps put a goalie on there? Or maybe someone I didn't list at all?

 

[RevSader]

A buddy of mine and I got to talking about "Mount Rushmores" for individual sports teams, where you choose 4 (and only 4) legends of that franchise who best represent the team to be carved into the mountain. For the Rangers, we agreed pretty easily on Nolan, Pudge, and MY, and then couldn't decide between Beltre, Juan Gonzalez, Palmeiro, Sundberg, and Greer for the last spot. We agreed that any of those would make a decent choice.

But the Stars were much harder to decide upon. So I wanted to see who you guys would choose from the history of the Dallas Stars as the 4 most important, popular, representative, successful, etc.

Modano is a no-brainer, so that's 1. But then you've got about 9 or 10 legit candidates for the last 3 spots: Lehtinen, Zubov, Hatcher, Hull, Belfour, Morrow, Turco, Benn, Seguin, or even their announcer Razor Reaugh. How do you pick just 3 from that list?

I ended up choosing Modano, Lehtinen, Zubov, and in a close call Jamie Benn over Brett Hull and Razor Reaugh. I went with Lehtinen and Zubov because they were the 2 most important pieces to the 99 Cup team. Lehtinen was so good for so long and won many Selke trophies as Modano's wing man, pun intended. Zubov was and still remains the best defenseman to ever play for Dallas. I went with Jamie Benn as the 4th just because he is kind of like the new Modano, the face of the franchise and current captain. Plus he just became the first Stars player ever to win the Art Ross trophy. Hull did score the Cup-winning goal, but he was only with the team for a short run. And I really hated leaving Razor off because he is synonymous with Stars hockey and the best in the business. But in the end I went with 4 players.

Do you agree with my picks, or would you perhaps put a goalie on there? Or maybe someone I didn't list at all?

They need to cram the entire 99 roster on there, because guys like Nieuwendyk, Hatcher, Sydor, Matvichuk etc were too valuable to the team's success to not be remembered. Outside of the entire 99 team the only guy I would enshrine is Turco for all he meant to the club in the 2000s.

 

[Justinkm83]

The Stars trade Trevor Daley and Ryan Garbutt to Chicago for Patrick Sharp and Stephen Johns.

 

[WilltheThrill]

The Stars trade Trevor Daley and Ryan Garbutt to Chicago for Patrick Sharp and Stephen Johns.

Absolute STEAL by the Stars! Jim F'ing Nill strikes again. He gave up our worst defenseman and a 4th liner for a top line wing and their best D prospect, all because they were up against the cap.

Their original asking price for Sharp was a 1st round pick, Nichushkin, and Roussel. Hawks fans are absolutely pissed!

 

[Bmurph]

Can they keep up this pace?

 

[Bmurph]

Hockey town?

 

[RevSader]

Hockey town?

I am scared to ask because I don't wanna jinx it...

 

[Bmurph]

Black and white striped shirts weren't good but Stars pull it out, thought about betting the over in this one. Should have, it was over 5.5 even before the 2 empty netters late. Lots of scoring, Stars are fun to watch at the moment. Sharp looks good

 

[Bmurph]

OT win, GO STARS!

 

[RevSader]

OT win, GO STARS!

That game winner was fucking sick...Seguin found him way too damn easily and it was Klingberg was toying with the goalie.

 

[Bmurph]

That game winner was fucking sick...Seguin found him way too damn easily and it was Klingberg was toying with the goalie.

Klingberg is quickly becoming one of my favorite current Stars players, he's fun to watch. Loved Sergei, and Kling is showing he might rival his scoring prowess as a Stars defenseman. +8 keep it up John

 

[Bmurph]

Stars defenseman John Klingberg shouldn't be a secret anymore
By Chris Peters | Hockey Writer

November 17, 2015 2:14 pm ET

The Dallas Stars are having the kind of season that grabs hockey fans by the shirt collar and forces them to pay attention. Not often one of the teams that gets a lot of national notoriety, the Stars have become this year's must-see team.

There are the names we know. Tyler Seguin's star has only risen since departing from the Boston Bruins in a now infamous trade. His arrival helped raise Jamie Benn's profile, which got another boost when he won the Art Ross Trophy last year. Patrick Sharp has three Stanley Cups. Jason Spezza was a star in a Canadian market while with the Ottawa Senators.

But now there's another name that hockey fans simply must know if they don't already – John Klingberg.

The 23-year-old defenseman took some time to make it to the NHL after he was selected in the fifth round in 2010. Heck, he didn't even hop the ditch to start his North American professional career until the last few games of the 2013-14 season.

In a short amount of time, though, Klingberg has gone from obscure prospect to the No. 1 defenseman on one of the NHL's best teams.

After jumping to the U.S. from Sweden, Klingberg played in just 13 games in the American Hockey League. That was all he needed to get acclimated to North American pro hockey.

The Stars blue line was an absolute mess last season when the team eventually called up Klingberg to help out. That call came Nov. 9, 2014. Neither the Stars nor their talented young blueliner has looked back since.

Tuesday night against the Buffalo Sabres, Klingberg will play in his 84th NHL game over the last two seasons and will do so as the fourth leading scorer in the NHL right now.

In 18 games this season, Klingberg has 20 points. The young defenseman trails Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane and teammates Seguin and Benn. That's it. His 16 assists rank second overall in the NHL and he deserves almost as much credit as his higher-scoring teammates for the Stars' success offensively this year.

As a rookie last year, Klingberg instantly improved the Stars blue line. He also helped supplement the offensive attack. The somewhat gangly 6-foot-2 rearguard notched 40 points, which included 11 goals – only two of which came on the power play – in just 65 games last season.

He ended up finishing fifth in Calder Trophy voting, perhaps because he didn't start the season with the Stars. All of the other finalists played at least 80 games, including eventual winner Aaron Ekblad who had 39 points in 81 games as an 18-year-old defenseman.

If he keeps doing what he's doing this season, he might have a shot at ending the year with some hardware as he is a way-too-early Norris Trophy candidate now.

There's the production. He's halfway to last season's point total just 18 games into the season and currently on pace for 90 points. He's not going to hit that, of course. That would exceed Benn's NHL-leading point total from a season ago. That said, Klingberg is going to find his name on the score sheet a whole bunch over the coming weeks and months, though, especially on a team like this.

On top of the numbers, Klingberg really is a joy to watch. He looks like he's been doing this for years with his confidence on the puck. There's an effortlessness to his game that is not often seen from a defenseman this early in his career. It helps to have a murderers row of forwards to dish the puck to, but if the defense can't get it to them, the Stars can't play the style they want to play. He makes the forwards' jobs easier.

When Stars GM Jim Nill said he believed Klingberg could be another Erik Karlsson, the two-time Norris Trophy winner from the Senators, people scoffed. Now Klingberg is starting to make his GM look prescient.

Nill also invested in that belief. The team wasted no time in getting Klingberg locked up with a long-term deal. The defenseman earned a seven-year extension with a cap hit of just $4.25 million last spring. It's an obscenely team-friendly deal assuming Klingberg maintains his upward trend. The contract is also back-loaded, so the Stars are getting No. 1 pairing production for the reported sum of just $2.25 million in actual salary this year.

The cap hit will particularly come in handy when Benn's contract is up in 2017-18 and when Seguin is due for renewal in 2018-19. Both should be expecting massive raises. Meanwhile, the Stars have a potential franchise defenseman under contract through 2022.

Simply put, Klingberg makes the Stars a better team. Without him, maybe they'd still have success this year, but would they be this good? Certainly not.

Keep your eye on No. 3 in the green and white jerseys this year as you could be witnessing the birth of an NHL star.




John Klingberg won't be the best kept secret in the NHL for much longer. (USATSI)

 

[RevSader]

2-0 lead blown in 2 minutes because Benn lost his cool and Alex made the dumbest fucking decision ever...

 

[RevSader]

Wow...they were offside after the challenge. Stars get a reprieve. Make the most of it!