yave1964 Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 PRESEASON OUTLOOK: They missed the postseason in 2014-15 largely due to poor netminding and defense and they did not let the moss grow under their feet. They signed BlackHawk Cap casualty Johnny Oduya to help the back end, Antti Niemi to push Lehtonen in net, and then traded for Patrick Sharp as the Hawk Fire sale continued. Hopes were high for a playoff push. FINAL RECORD: 50-23-9 109 points, best record in the West. Lost in the second round to the Blues. STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR: The combined goals in Stars games was 497, they were first in goals scored and 20th in goals against. Seven teams had a combined goals for and against of at least 70 less than the Stars total including the Devils whose total of 392 was 105 less than the Stars games total. Individually, Jamie Benn had one of the leagues biggest diferentials in goal at home and on the road, scoring 29 in Dallas but only 12 on the road. Jason Spezza took advantage of the new faceoff rules that favored the home team with 58 more won at home than away. Offense overall was the name of the game, Dallas gave up the 21st most shots in the league and had the leagues second most. HIGH POINT OF THE YEAR: Winning arguably the best division in Hockey and then dispatching the Wild easily in the first round would have to be as good as it gets, IMHO. LOW POINT OF THE YEAR: Losing Tyler Seguin for much of the postseason including the entire hard fought series against the Blues in which his team bowed out. It will leave the Stars players, management and fans wondering what would have been if not for his calf injury. WHAT WENT RIGHT: Jamie Benn (41=48-89) was a force of nature from the Wing with Tyler Seguin (22-40-73) nearly matching him in spite of missing 9 games. Jason Spezza (33-30-63) had a Renaissance season aging better than fine wine. Patrick Sharp (20-35-55) was a fine addition. John Klingberg (10-48-58) was a force from the back end and suffered no sophomore slump. Cody Eakin was a very solid 2C. Mattias Janmark showed signs of serious skill in his first full season and will plug nicely into the middle six for the forseable future. Antoine Roussel scored 13 goals and had 123 PIMs and was just nasty. Johnny Oduya was solid if unspectacular stabilizing the defense a bit. Brett Ritchie (35 games 28 points) broke into the ranks and looks like a super power forward in the making. As if they need another one. WHAT WENT WRONG: Seguin and his calf muscle killed their year. The goaltending duo of (sorry could not find a beachball photo of Lehtonen or Niemi, but you get the gist)Lehtonen and Niemi should have been nicknamed the Arson Squad because of the way they throw gasoline upon the fire. The little defense was pushed around in their own zone all year. Hemsky continues to underwhelm. Valeri Nichushkin was supposed to be a stud with all the firepower on the team, he is not. He looks lost. MVP: Benn over Seguin and Klingberg but few teams have a young trio as good as this one. FREE AGENTS: A ton of them. It starts with literally two thirds of their defense: Jordie Benn Jason Demers, one of the few who has any size back there. Alex Goligoski Can score but is too small and shoved around. Kris Russell Great shot blocker but also too small. All may be playing elsewhere. Spear carriers among the forwards like Patrick Eaves, Travis Moen, Colton Scevior and Vern Fiddler are all also UFA and could all move on. Eaves wants to stay but cannot stay healthy tho he is valuable up and down the lines when he is in. TOP PROSPECTS: defense help is on the way! Stephen Johns who came from Chicago in the Sharp trade brings size and a good first pass. Esa Lindell is a great prospect on the back end and will play in the top 4. The best defensive prospect on the team is Julius Honka who will be chomping at the bit for ice time and may make the team out of camp. Lots of ready now forward prospects ready to step in for the tired old men who are free agents, not superstar quality but capable players, Jason dickenson could slot nicely into a 3C role. I saw Radek Faksa twice in person this year, once in the AHL and once in the NHL and he was amazing both nights, he could push Eakin for the 2C. Others include Ulie, Ellie and Shore who will all see time in big D next year. This organization is stacked as any team ran by super scout extraordinaire Jim Nill would be expected to be. OFFSEASON QUESTION MARKS: What to do about the netminding, and can the kids step into the vacated roles on defense or do they need to sign a couple of big bodies back there. No questions about the offense unless they are how much better will it be next year? It wont matter if something is not fixed on the back end. Trust in Nill, he is doing one Hell of a job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J0e Th0rnton Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 2 hours ago, yave1964 said: PRESEASON OUTLOOK: They missed the postseason in 2014-15 largely due to poor netminding and defense and they did not let the moss grow under their feet. They signed BlackHawk Cap casualty Johnny Oduya to help the back end, Antti Niemi to push Lehtonen in net, and then traded for Patrick Sharp as the Hawk Fire sale continued. Hopes were high for a playoff push. FINAL RECORD: 50-23-9 109 points, best record in the West. Lost in the second round to the Blues. STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR: The combined goals in Stars games was 497, they were first in goals scored and 20th in goals against. Seven teams had a combined goals for and against of at least 70 less than the Stars total including the Devils whose total of 392 was 105 less than the Stars games total. Individually, Jamie Benn had one of the leagues biggest diferentials in goal at home and on the road, scoring 29 in Dallas but only 12 on the road. Jason Spezza took advantage of the new faceoff rules that favored the home team with 58 more won at home than away. Offense overall was the name of the game, Dallas gave up the 21st most shots in the league and had the leagues second most. HIGH POINT OF THE YEAR: Winning arguably the best division in Hockey and then dispatching the Wild easily in the first round would have to be as good as it gets, IMHO. LOW POINT OF THE YEAR: Losing Tyler Seguin for much of the postseason including the entire hard fought series against the Blues in which his team bowed out. It will leave the Stars players, management and fans wondering what would have been if not for his calf injury. WHAT WENT RIGHT: Jamie Benn (41=48-89) was a force of nature from the Wing with Tyler Seguin (22-40-73) nearly matching him in spite of missing 9 games. Jason Spezza (33-30-63) had a Renaissance season aging better than fine wine. Patrick Sharp (20-35-55) was a fine addition. John Klingberg (10-48-58) was a force from the back end and suffered no sophomore slump. Cody Eakin was a very solid 2C. Mattias Janmark showed signs of serious skill in his first full season and will plug nicely into the middle six for the forseable future. Antoine Roussel scored 13 goals and had 123 PIMs and was just nasty. Johnny Oduya was solid if unspectacular stabilizing the defense a bit. Brett Ritchie (35 games 28 points) broke into the ranks and looks like a super power forward in the making. As if they need another one. WHAT WENT WRONG: Seguin and his calf muscle killed their year. The goaltending duo of (sorry could not find a beachball photo of Lehtonen or Niemi, but you get the gist)Lehtonen and Niemi should have been nicknamed the Arson Squad because of the way they throw gasoline upon the fire. The little defense was pushed around in their own zone all year. Hemsky continues to underwhelm. Valeri Nichushkin was supposed to be a stud with all the firepower on the team, he is not. He looks lost. MVP: Benn over Seguin and Klingberg but few teams have a young trio as good as this one. FREE AGENTS: A ton of them. It starts with literally two thirds of their defense: Jordie Benn Jason Demers, one of the few who has any size back there. Alex Goligoski Can score but is too small and shoved around. Kris Russell Great shot blocker but also too small. All may be playing elsewhere. Spear carriers among the forwards like Patrick Eaves, Travis Moen, Colton Scevior and Vern Fiddler are all also UFA and could all move on. Eaves wants to stay but cannot stay healthy tho he is valuable up and down the lines when he is in. TOP PROSPECTS: defense help is on the way! Stephen Johns who came from Chicago in the Sharp trade brings size and a good first pass. Esa Lindell is a great prospect on the back end and will play in the top 4. The best defensive prospect on the team is Julius Honka who will be chomping at the bit for ice time and may make the team out of camp. Lots of ready now forward prospects ready to step in for the tired old men who are free agents, not superstar quality but capable players, Jason dickenson could slot nicely into a 3C role. I saw Radek Faksa twice in person this year, once in the AHL and once in the NHL and he was amazing both nights, he could push Eakin for the 2C. Others include Ulie, Ellie and Shore who will all see time in big D next year. This organization is stacked as any team ran by super scout extraordinaire Jim Nill would be expected to be. OFFSEASON QUESTION MARKS: What to do about the netminding, and can the kids step into the vacated roles on defense or do they need to sign a couple of big bodies back there. No questions about the offense unless they are how much better will it be next year? It wont matter if something is not fixed on the back end. Trust in Nill, he is doing one Hell of a job. Hawks fans gave up on him as a prospect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted May 17, 2016 Author Share Posted May 17, 2016 42 minutes ago, J0e Th0rnton said: Hawks fans gave up on him as a prospect Yeah it is a bit confusing to me that the Hawks who are short of cap space and even shorter of defenseman simply gave up on Stephen Johns to Dallas and Michael Paliotta to the Jackets. I am not saying either is going to be a star but both can play at least solid bottom pair regularly. Simply thrown away. Another is Adam Clendening,who I watched play a half a dozen times with Rockford and let me tell ya, he looked like the real deal as a puck mover. Now with Edmonton, he should stick this year. So that is three guys, Clendening a puck mover, Paliotta who plays responsible stay at home role and Johns who can do both who have moved on to other organizations. This is the Stars write up, not the Hawks but I mentioned in the Hawks that they are really low on 'ready now' prospects. Curious moves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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