Texas Sports Fan Blog

Kari Lehtonen’s year off the NHL ice has been a blessing.

But the flip side is Lehtonen, who was acquired from Atlanta in a trade Tuesday, will jump into the thick of the Western Conference playoff race with only five games of minor league play on a recent conditioning assignment.

And while the Stars are excited about what they have in the 26-year-old Finn who was taken second in the 2002 NHL draft, Lehtonen realizes the challenge is not just to play a game but to play regularly.

“That’s what I have to be working on,” he said.

Lehtonen flew to Phoenix on Friday and was part of a team dinner. He worked out Saturday morning with Stars goalie coach Mike Valley, and he said he will use the Olympic break to get ready for his Stars debut.

The league is shutting down two weeks for the Olympics, and players cannot work out in team facilities until Feb. 24. All three Stars goalies are expected to report to Frisco that day and start working out in preparation for the March 2 game against the Kings. Because of the compressed schedule caused by the Olympic break, the Stars will finish the season with 21 games in 40 days.

Click here to read the full article – By Dallas Morning News

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Dallas Stars License Plate Frame

Dallas Stars License Plate

Marty Turco punched diligently at his cellphone Wednesday, checking for updates.

“Haven’t heard a word,” Turco said with a slight smile, “But you never know.”

The man who holds pretty much every Stars franchise goaltending record during the regular season, and is scheduled to play his 498th NHL game tonight against the Flames, is trying to take in stride the news that the Stars acquired goalie Kari Lehtonen from Atlanta in a trade Tuesday. Lehtonen has battled injuries, but he is 26 and a former second overall pick in the 2002 draft — which reduces the chances of Turco re-signing with the Stars.

Now the question is whether Turco might be traded as first-year general manager Joe Nieuwendyk tries to shape the roster for now and for the future. Turco said he has no idea what might happen next, and that he will try to put that out of his mind while hoping to get the Stars in position to challenge for a playoff spot.

Click here to read the full article – By Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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Marty Turco will be in goal tonight against the Minnesota Wild, but the Stars have not yet gone to a “win and you’re in” strategy for their netminders.

“We are so close with the teams we are battling and we need every point we can get, so I would say it’s probably more of a ‘feel’ thing than an automatic thing,” Crawford said. “It’s probably more a ‘play well and you’re in’ situation. If we feel good about how a goaltender is playing, we’re certainly going to stick with them.”

Crawford and his coaching staff felt good enough about Alex Auld that they played him three straight and six of the last eight. In each instance, the goalie who lost came out and the goalie who won stayed in. But Crawford said it’s not that easy.

“Right now, we need both goalies playing well and we need them both working together and helping the team win,” Crawford said. “I think in each situation, the goalie had a chance to help the team, he did that, and after he did that, it was the other goalie’s chance to come in.”

Auld is 4-2-0 in that span, while Turco is 1-1-0. On the season, Turco has a 15-14-8 record, a 2.88 GAA and a .905 save percentage. Auld, meanwhile, is 9-6-3 with a 3.00 GAA and a .894 save percentage.

Click here to read the full article – By Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Here’s hoping this wasn’t Mike Modano’s last game at Joe Louis Arena.

The all-time leader in pretty much every offensive category for the Stars franchise, Modano has played more than 50 NHL games in his hometown arena. He skated here hundreds more times before that when he was a member of Little Caesars’ storied youth hockey program.

So at 39, with his contract up at the end of the season, and this being the second of two trips to Detroit, could this have been the last twirl for him at The Joe? He said he thought about that possibility all day Monday.

“I think it’s too early to tell you,” said Modano, who grew up in nearby Livonia. “There’s still a lot of time left in this season.”

Click here to read the full article – By Mike Heika of Dallas Morning News

The Stars are having faceoff problems.

This team finished 26th last season at 47.8 percent. All the Stars’ centers are left-handed, and most are under 48 percent for their careers.

What’s more, their best faceoff player, Steve Ott, has been hurt for the better part of the last two seasons and hasn’t really been able to take faceoffs.

“It’s a tough situation, and we need to be better,” said center Mike Modano, who has the best faceoff winning percentage among regulars at 51.8 percent. “But we work on it all of the time, and we usually end up about the same. It’s definitely frustrating.”

Gone are the days when the Stars routinely led the league in faceoff percentage, and Joe Nieuwendyk and Guy Carbonneau flirted with 60 percent winning percentage. This team simply is not built to be strong on the draws.

Click here to read the full article – By Dallas Morning News

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Forward Fabian Brunnstrom will miss a game after injuring his shoulder in practice, Dallas Stars coach Marc Crawford said Wednesday.

Brunnstrom, who did not practice Wednesday, injured his shoulder on a hit from Stephane Robidas in Tuesday’s practice. Brunnstrom has one goal and six assists and is minus-1 in 17 games played this season.

James Neal (pulled groin), who leads the Stars with nine goals and is second on the team with 17 points, returned to practice Tuesday and will play at San Jose on Thursday.

Crawford juggled some of his line combinations in preparation for Thursday’s game. Lines during practice were:


Click here to read the full article – By Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com

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Tom Wandell said he wants to be on the ice at Rexall Place tonight trying to shut down Edmonton’s best players.

A little cocky for an NHL rookie who has played just 15 games? Maybe. But Wandell is more confident than anything else. The 22-year-old Stars forward from Sodertalje, Sweden has been through a lot in the last two seasons, so he said he’s ready to step in for Mike Modano against the Oilers.

Modano suffered sore ribs when he was accidentally speared by Nashville defenseman Francois Bouillon late in Saturday’s game. X-rays and an MRI found no damage to the bone or the cartilage, so Modano is listed as day-to-day. Still, he said he doesn’t expect to play against the Oilers, and Wandell appears the logical replacement.

“It’s a different role than I’ve probably played in the past,” Wandell said. “But I think I’ve done enough of everything that I believe in myself, and believe I can handle it.”

Click here to read the full article – By Mike Heika of Dallas Morning News

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The Stars made a commitment to one of their hardest working players Thursday, signing defenseman Stephane Robidas to a four-year contract extension worth $13.2 million.

Robidas, who will make $1.5 million this season in the final year of his old deal, will start the extension next season, and it will run through 2013-14. Robidas will count $3.3 million per season toward the salary cap and should become the Stars’ highest-paid defenseman.

“It’s great security for me and my family, and it’s great to be with this organization,” said Robidas, 32. “This is home for me, and this is a team I feel very good about. It was a very easy decision for me.”

Robidas has had a tough climb through the NHL. While he was drafted by his hometown Montreal Canadiens, he washed out as a pro in 2002 and was waived.

The Stars acquired him and played him for parts of two seasons before trading him to Chicago for a bigger defenseman in Jon Klemm.

Click here to read the full article – By Mike Heika of Dallas Morning News

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As exhibitions go, this was just what the Stars needed – both Dallas and Texas.

“It was a good night all around,” Dallas Stars winger Steve Ott said.

While this was not officially a preseason game and was played under loose rules that allowed the teams to split goalies and use more than 20 players per side, it still was an essential tool in getting Dallas ready for its season opener Saturday at home against Nashville.

“As coach of an NHL team, you’re always worried about games like this,” Dallas coach Marc Crawford said of the no-win situation of facing a minor league team. “But I thought our guys really paid attention to maintaining the good habits we needed to have.

“It was a good match-up. It had good intensity, it was good speed and I thought for the most part we d

Click here to read the full article – By Mike Heika of Dallas Morning News

Dallas Stars Sports Memorabilia
and other Dallas Stars Gifts and Collectibles
Below are links to memorabilia available for popular Dallas Stars players.

Dallas Stars Sports Memorabilia
and other Dallas Stars Gifts and Collectibles
Below are links to memorabilia available for Mike Modano.