OT Stars Hockey

[Bmurph]

another quality home win vs the Blackhawks, good hockey night

 

[RevSader]

Fuck the Blackhawks man! Stars keep this shit rolling.

 

[Bmurph]

terrible first PP tonight, not even a shot off

 

[RevSader]

What a bad loss. You cannot cough up the lead with less than 2 minutes to play and then choke in the shoot out with so many chances to win. Niemi gave them a shot and they just couldn't get it by Allen.

 

[Bmurph]

What a bad loss. You cannot cough up the lead with less than 2 minutes to play and then choke in the shoot out with so many chances to win. Niemi gave them a shot and they just couldn't get it by Allen.

Agreed bad loss there on the road with a chance to win in regulation

 

[RevSader]

Agreed bad loss there on the road with a chance to win in regulation

I hate St. Louis everything...

 

[Bmurph]

and that will just about do it, better tonight on the home and home

What a major difference at home vs last year

 

[RevSader]

and that will just about do it, better tonight on the home and home

What a major difference at home vs last year

This team after a loss is INSANE. I'm glad they don't lose very often, but damn when they do you better watch the hell out.

 

[Bmurph]

This team after a loss is INSANE. I'm glad they don't lose very often, but damn when they do you better watch the hell out.

they have been unbelievable this year after a loss

 

[Bmurph]

another solid thumping after a loss and another home victory

 

[Bmurph]

Down 2-1 after the first, will it be 3 losses in a row? This road trip hasn't started well

 

[Bmurph]

Good moves for Nill, hopefully this team just keeps getting better.

Stars GM earned new contract thanks to franchise-changing moves
By Adam Gretz | Hockey writer

January 8, 2016 12:03 pm

During his first two-and-a-half years running the Dallas Stars, general manager Jim Nill has built a team that is not only one of the best in the NHL halfway through the 2015-16 season, but is also one of the most exciting teams in a league that becomes more and more defensive by the day.

On Friday, the Stars rewarded him for his work with a new five-year contract extension that will keep him in charge of the team through the 2022-23 season.

The roster today is almost unrecognizable from the one he took over before the 2013-14 season. His method for rebuilding the Stars has centered largely on making blockbuster trades, having added Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, and Patrick Sharp in each of the past three offseasons.

He has also made several smaller deals that brought in Antti Niemi and Jason Demers as well as free agents Ales Hemsky and Johnny Oduya.

What has stood out the most about Nill's rebuild in Dallas is the fact that when he was hired the Dallas Stars didn't have a center on their roster that should have been a top-line player on a contending team. The 2012-13 team, the year before Nill was hired, played with Derek Roy and Cody Eakin as its top two guys down the middle. Within his first two years on the job Nill added Seguin, who has quickly turned into one of the NHL's best players, and Spezza, while not the 80-90 point player he was during his peak year in Ottawa, is still a top-line player in the NHL.

This past summer he made his third major trade when he acquired Sharp from the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks.

The most impressive thing those three moves is that he's added top-line players to his roster without having to give up anything of significance. At least nothing that compares to what he brought in to the roster.

Just consider that during their time with the Stars Seguin, Spezza and Sharp have already combined to score 145 goals.

The nine players they were traded for (Trevor Daley, Ryan Garbutt, Alex Chiasson, Loui Eriksson, Reilly Smith, Mark Fraser, Joe Morrow and two prospects) have only combined to score 109 goals with their new teams, and 82 of those have come from Eriksson and Smith.

Three of those players have already been traded or moved by their new teams. It's nearly impossible in a salary cap environment to add that much top-line talent from outside the organization. It's even harder when you're not giving up all that much in comparison, especially when it comes to the addition of Seguin, a former No. 2 overall pick in the draft that was on the verge of stardom in the NHL.

But Nill was able to pounce on some favorable situations around the league, whether it was the Bruins giving up on a talented youngster because he didn't fit their image as a player, or financial situations in Ottawa (Spezza being too expensive) or Chicago (Sharp being part of their latest salary cap purge).

Whether or not the Stars have what it takes to maintain this early success this season and become a Stanley Cup team remains to be seen.

But you also can't ignore the fact that in just two-and-a-half years on the job Nill has taken a team that had missed the playoffs five years in a row and had become mostly irrelevant in the NHL and has turned them into an offensive powerhouse and, at the moment, one of the best teams in the league.


Tyler Seguin was one of the major trades made by Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill. (USATSI)

 

[Bmurph]

1 out of 6 points on the Cali road trip, they are not playing the same hockey they were to start the year. Its gotten ugly after the east coast and west coast road trips. 0-8 away from home here lately.

Get back on track soon Stars!

 

[Bmurph]

More bad hockey tonight

 

[cowboys5xsbs]

I hope we get out of this slump soon it is depressing

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Giving up two short handed goals in inexcusable.

 

[Justinkm83]

Some of you hockey fanatics tell me about Kris Russell. This guy doesn't seem to be a fan, and I like Jokipakka. We need an upgrade between the pipes before I think we have a legitimate shot.

NHL Trade Deadline: Dallas Stars Linked to Kris Russell, Dan Hamhuis; Will Trade Be Made Today?

 

[Bmurph]

Some of you hockey fanatics tell me about Kris Russell. This guy doesn't seem to be a fan, and I like Jokipakka. We need an upgrade between the pipes before I think we have a legitimate shot.

NHL Trade Deadline: Dallas Stars Linked to Kris Russell, Dan Hamhuis; Will Trade Be Made Today?

I sort of hope Nill sticks with what he's got for now. I think they are a playoff team, not necessarily a deep run though. I agree they need to upgrade the goalkeeper situation and they still need defensive help, but not interested in giving up much unless they are getting an above avg defender. I don't see Russell being above avg. really

 

[Bmurph]

Nill has been good so far, but I think this was too much to pay. Needless to say I would love to come back and admit to being wrong!

Stars get Kris Russell from Flames; is he the defenseman they need?
By Adam Gretz | Hockey writer

February 29, 2016 1:57 pm ET

The Dallas Stars are the most dangerous -- and exciting -- team in the NHL when it comes to offense. They are a force with the puck and can score with any other team in the league.

The problem, just as it was a year ago when they missed the playoffs with one of the top offenses in the league, is defense and goal prevention. Entering play on Monday they are a bottom-10 team in terms of goals against and penalty killing, something that is not a recipe for Stanley Cup success.

Because of that, it was pretty clear what their biggest need was approaching the trade deadline: Defense.

They added to their blue line on Monday when they picked up Kris Russell from the Calgary Flames, reportedly in exchange for defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka, Brettt Pollock and a conditional second-round draft pick according to ESPN's Pierre LeBrun and Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

The condition on the pick is that if Dallas makes the Western Conference Final it becomes a first-round pick.

That is a steep price for Dallas to pay and a fantastic return for the Flames on a player they were almost certainly going to lose as a free agent after the season. Jokipakka is probably ready for NHL action right now.

Russell is kind of a polarizing player in the NHL right now.

Old school hockey types love him because he is a fearless shot blocker and plays bigger than his size. But when he's not dropping down to block a shot, there really isn't much else that he does to improve his team. It's the type of defenseman that is starting to become an endangered species in the NHL as teams are starting to covet puck-moving ability in their defensemen. Shot-blocking is a great skill when you need to do it. But if you find yourself in a position where you have to keep doing it over and over it is probably not a good sign for your team because it means you're spending way too much time in your own end of the ice. That is why the teams that lead the NHL in blocked shots are typically near the bottom of the standings.

That is the problem with Russell. Because he's not great moving the puck out of danger his team ends up spending more time defending than playing on the attack, which is not something this Stars team as currently constructed wants to be doing.

Add in the fact they paid a pretty steep price to get him and it's a potentially costly move for the Stars.

 

[WilltheThrill]

The Russell trade was outstanding. I get mad at some Dallas hockey "fans" who bash players they don't really know before even seeing them play. You should have seen the venomous reactions to the trade over at defendingbigd.com and on Facebook. Pure nonsense. Some dude actually said it was the most lopsided bad trade in NHL history. Another guy said Jokipakka was already better than Russell. No and no. Nonsense.

Add this clueless d-bag "writer" to the list of people who don't know jack squat. You can tell he's ignorant when he says Jokipakka is "probably NHL-ready". Um, he's played a FULL SEASON in the NHL already, genius. Nill doesn't call up guys for a full season if they're not ready.

And as far as Russell himself goes, he IS good at moving the puck out of the zone. Maybe not great, but solid, and much better than 4 of their other current d-men. Russell plays on the PP, the PK (shot-blocking monster), and eats a lot of minutes. He has so much defensive zone ice time accrued this season because the Flames suck. Not his fault. Anyone who has seen him play with Dallas so far can tell he's very solid. Not spectacular, but reliable and does a bit of everything.

We gave up our worst D youngster (Klingberg, Honka, Lindell, Nemeth, Oleksiak, and Johns all have more upside). Joki is decent, but he will never be more than a bottom pairing guy. Pollock is a solid forward prospect, but again we still kept our better ones (Dickinson, Shore, Ritchie, Faksa). And the pick likely stays as a 2nd rounder. 2nd rounders have a 30% chance of becoming NHL regulars.

It wasn't a slam-dunk fleecing like Nill is known for, but it was a solid pickup, especially considering both Goligoski and Demers are free agents after this season. If Russell were to stay another year or two, it would help the blue line considerably.