VII. Texas Stars (AHL) Discussion

[Kalamazoo Wings]

Atta boy Morin! And we're all square...

 

[Alistar]

Good game. If not for their goaltender we'd be going to Toronto up 2-0, but I still feel we have this series. Toronto can't play with Texas at even strength - they are completely outclassed.

 

[BigG44]

2 games in 4 days to start the series .... 3 games in 4 days up next after 1 day off.

Texas must win one in Toronto after losing at home.

 

[NFKappaB]

Another 51 shots.

 

[Primetimey*]

Keep peppering them with shots and we will win this series. Back to back games won't be good for their goalie.

 

[Hull Fan]

So stay out of the box and you win. Hopefully that gets drilled into their heads.

I only saw a little of the final minutes. Is Glennie good enough to be a decent 12th forward in Dallas this fall?

 

[Kalamazoo Wings]

God I love Ritchie.

Yep, he seems to be the real deal. What I love is how much different and younger the Dallas core of top 6 forwards is shaping up from what it was looking like if we go back to this time last year. Add Ritchie's development the acquisitions of Seguin and Nuke and throw in the captain and it gives us something to be excited about upfront. Things are looking up!

 

[NFKappaB]

Future Top 6?

Seguin
Nuke
Benn
Ritchie
X
X

 

[OttMorrow]

My thoughts on the prospects while they are still fresh....

Ritchie - Big kid...still has room to grow, good offensive instincts

McKenzie - the most physical player on the team from what I saw, has a decent set of wheels

Hedden - sign this guy if he's not signed already...very slick, mobile forward with good puckhandling skills

Stransky - looks very good...kid can skate

Oleksiak - not ready for the bigs yet, but as advertised...great set of wheels for 6'7

Jokipakka - really like his shot from the point, mobile, bigger than I expected, seems like he's got a lot of potential

Glennie - productive offensively in cleanup goals, not very dynamic though

Faksa - looked solid, good defensively, good compete-level...didn't see a whole lot of offesnive potential. He'll probably be a 3rd line shut-down center for the big club in the next few years, but not a 2C

Reinforcements are on the way!

 

[Alistar]

So stay out of the box and you win. Hopefully that gets drilled into their heads.

I only saw a little of the final minutes. Is Glennie good enough to be a decent 12th forward in Dallas this fall?

I think he is good enough to be a regular in the lineup - not just the in the press box gang. He's a good skater, doesn't mind the physical game along the boards, and can chip in points at a rate well worth giving him 10-12 minutes a night.

I mean yeah if he does make the club Ruff will probably easy him in playing every other night or something, but I could see him coming along in the mold of a Garbutt or Roussel as a fast depth player who can win the possession battle and create an impact play every now and then. Without the same degree of physical play or agitation of course

 

[Hull Fan]

I think he is good enough to be a regular in the lineup - not just the in the press box gang. He's a good skater, doesn't mind the physical game along the boards, and can chip in points at a rate well worth giving him 10-12 minutes a night.

I mean yeah if he does make the club Ruff will probably easy him in playing every other night or something, but I could see him coming along in the mold of a Garbutt or Roussel as a fast depth player who can win the possession battle and create an impact play every now and then. Without the same degree of physical play or agitation of course

See my dream scenario is that Glennie makes the 4th line and does well. Then due to whatever the following year he gets a chance with Roussel-Eakin-Glennie to make Garbutt expendable. Glennie as a 30ish point checker would be really nice and allow Dallas to trade Garbutt for a nice return.

 

[Stars99Lobo37]

So officially 52 shots tonight meaning 102 shots in 6 periods of play against Toronto and just 49 shots for Toronto.

 

[OttMorrow]

See my dream scenario is that Glennie makes the 4th line and does well. Then due to whatever the following year he gets a chance with Roussel-Eakin-Glennie to make Garbutt expendable. Glennie as a 30ish point checker would be really nice and allow Dallas to trade Garbutt for a nice return.

I'm not sold on Glennie yet...and I love Garbutt and Roussel together. Wouldn't want to break that irritainer duo up for just anyone.

 

[Bluesoma]

Hedden - sign this guy if he's not signed already...very slick, mobile forward with good puckhandling skills

Hedden is 29, going on 30 next season and has pretty much reached his potential this season. He's probably going to the KHL for better money as he's going to be pushed out by younger guys coming into the system.

My notes on the game:
After the first period Texas seemed to figure out that they can play with Toronto. I think Toronto coming out in the first game and just hitting everyone threw Texas off and shook them up some. This game Texas finally started throwing their bodies around and realizing that Toronto isn't some big bad physical team. Hell even Fortunus and Morin were throwing hits, successful ones at that.

Despite a couple of brain farts, Oleksiak had a better game. Jokipakka started to settle down half way through (I'm guessing Lidster tore him a new one). Nemeth was probably the best defenseman out there. Gaunce is starting to worry me and I'm beginning to think he may not get re-signed.

Having Ritchie back is awesome. Putting Peters in with Faksa and Stransky was a great move and as others noted they probably put the most pressure on Toronto in the beginning. Not bad for a 4th "checking" line. Stransky's skating has greatly improved by he still needs to work on his balance, he's easily taken off the puck when moving. Not as bad when standing still, so there is that.


It's obvious that Texas needs to get at least 1 in Toronto but I feel like they need two to survive this series.

 

[Stars99Lobo37]

 

[MBTendy]

I'm really curious to see Nilstorps save. Apparently is was unreal

 

[Magic Mittens]

Thanks for the highlights Lobo. Great to see them tie the series up. Take it to them tmw boys!

 

[Michael Farkas]

The Toronto players are kind of dirtbags...

Nihlstorp never improved from the first game I saw him, he's terrible.

Peters/Faksa/Stransky (or whoever all those similarly looking 20-numbers were) looked good when they took the ice. Stransky improved his edge work it appears. He walks out of corners pretty well still, but he doesn't keep his feet moving when he's trying to dangle through the NZ, he looks like Alexander Mogilny in his last season on that front. But, I'd rather have skill to work with, so he's got that much going for him...

None of the D really stuck out to me all night...made all the tougher by the rapidly changing camera angles, but I got what I paid for...

Brett Ritchie.

 

[Stars99Lobo37]

I'm really curious to see Nilstorps save. Apparently is was unreal

Might be in the highlights the Marlies post. Will post it when they put it up.

 

[Bluesoma]

Nihlstorp, as my friend puts it, is a strange cat. He gets beat easily when he has clear view of the shooter and time to set but then makes great saves down low in a jam or when screened.

Trying to watch and evaluate the D is really god damn hard with the crappy AHL feeds.

Also totally right on Stransky, not sure how I failed to mention it because it's one of my peeves when a player just stops skating and glides once he has the puck. It's like Stransky is too busy trying to stick handle the puck in amazing ways and forgets that he needs to move his feet too. Thankfully that can be fixed (I hope).

The Czech Connection is going to be super awesome to watch next season.

 

[BigG44]

That Nilstorp save ... well there were two ... but the one that stuck out to me was he was already down on the ice, and the guy just shot it right into his glove.

No idea how the hell that stayed out.

 

[BigG44]

Hopefully the flight has an Air Marshall or two.

100 Degree Hockey ‏@100degreehockey

#txstars leaving "as early as possible" this morning for Toronto. Marlies and Stars on the same charter to Ontario.

Travis Morin will see your taunting and raise you a, "Ooh I'm scared."

 

[BigG44]

Couldn't find the comments ... didn't try real hard:

Sean Shapiro ‏@seanshapiro

Quick thought: Jim Benning's comments about his plans for the Canucks lines up well with Willie Desjardins coaching system/style. #TxStars.

FYI ... Shapiro covers the Texas Stars for the Austin Statesman sometimes. I think he's freelance.

 

[Stars99Lobo37]

 

[Stars99Lobo37]

FYI ... Shapiro covers the Texas Stars for the Austin Statesman sometimes. I think he's freelance.

He's freelance but he's the only guy that covers the Stars for the Statesman as far as I know.