Stars Staying Positive, Looking for More Next Year

Mike Hedden (Credit: Josh Rasmussen/Texas Stars)

If you were to go back and tell the Texas Stars in early November that they would finish the regular season in first place, I think they would probably have been pretty happy with that. If you remember, the Stars were fair to middling to start the year, sporting a record of 3-6 after a shutout loss to the Marlies on November 9th at home.

Colton Sceviour, who has played with Texas all four years of his pro career, put things in perspective a bit, "If you look at the season overall, coming off what happened last year, I think we were projected to finish 24th or so in the league and we ended up finishing 2nd in the league record wise. In the big picture, it was a successful year, but right now it stings that we're not playing."

Looking back at the year that was, the Stars had a pretty remarkable season. Their leader through it all, captain Maxime Fortunus, saw all three phases these Stars went through on the season.

"It was weird," Fortunus remarked. "We've said that we had three teams this year. All year long we've managed to battle hard and win games to finish first. We had a lot of confidence. We knew we had a good team and after the trade deadline we had to gel as fast as possible."

A lot of that gelling and overall hardnosed play can be attributed to the coaching of Willie Desjardins, who was awarded the Pieri Coach of the Year Award for his efforts. It was really quite remarkable to see how the Stars played the same way in game 1 as they did in game 76. No matter who was on the ice, it was Willie Desjardins hockey.

"They demanded hard work," said Sceviour. "From day 1, practices weren't overly long, but they were quick. You always had to have your feet moving. That's one thing they stressed: if we work hard in practice, we'll work down teams in the third period. That was our mentality. We tried to make teams play at our pace and keep up with us."

"They were consistent," he added. "When you were on the ice, it was time to work. If you aren't ready to work, you aren't going to play."

Radek Faksa (Credit: Christina Shapiro/Texas Stars)

That work ethic is a big plus to grow on for Texas, who will return many of the same players as they had this past year.

"There's a good nucleus and we know what we want to do," said Desjardins. "It's exciting for next year. We want more. That's our slogan coming out of playoffs. We're committed to finding a way to be better next year."

Of course, much of that nucleus is still up in the air. However, some of the black ace players from this postseason will be coming back next year, including John Klingberg and Jyrki Jokipakka. The team believes that time with the team provides invaluable experience, even if it is off the ice.

"They said they enjoyed their time," said Coach Lidster regarding the defensemen. "It's good to see how hard the guys approach the game and how hard they work. In some ways, the AHL is more of a grind than the NHL with three-in-threes and bus travel."

Others who will be here eventually but maybe not next year also spent time in Cedar Park, including Radek Faksa, Troy Vance and Emil Molin.

Captain Max Fortunus continued, "They showed they care about the team and they are willing to come here and work hard. I think for guys it's fun to come over and get used to how things work so when they come next year it isn't a surprise. The closer you are here, the closer you are to playing in the NHL. You never know what's going to happen."

How You Can Help Oklahoma Today

(Credit: Tim Lauzon/Texas Stars)

Oklahomans, surely including many Barons' fans, have had a rather unlucky and downright horrible week with the number of devastating tornadoes that have hit the area. I'm sure many of you, like me, are wondering how you can help those affected by the storms.

Neal Livingston, who covers the Oklahoma City Barons at Tend the Farm, has written a post about how you can help. Please follow that link and do what you can.

I wanted to specifically call out Neal's description of the tornadoes in the post.

Living in Oklahoma, tornadoes are a part of the deal. Although not listed in your renters agreement, hotel paperwork, or home closing documents, enduring tornado season is the life of an Oklahoman.

In May of 1999, a week before I graduated from high school, I survived one of the most horrific natural disasters my eyes had ever seen. I still think of those moments, and my brain can’t fully compute what my eyes saw.

Almost 15 years later, my eyes saw a similar scene, and again I struggle to accurately process what I’ve seen first hand, watched on television, and digested through phone calls, emails, and social media. It’s 1999 all over again, and it’s horrifying. 

So follow the link and do what you can. Thanks.

Injuries, Veteran Scoring and Puck Luck Contributed to Stars' Early Exit

(Credit: Steven Christy)

The Stars had exit interviews Sunday with Les Jackson, Jim Nill and Scott White and started leaving for points north Monday. A few players and the coaching staff were around for questions on Monday. With the weekend to collect their thoughts and process the games in OKC, it was a good opportunity to talk about the series in general. There were a few common threads running through the team's thoughts on the series, among them the effects of injuries, impact of veteran scoring and the often-elusive puck luck.

Injuries

Texas had some significant injuries to deal with in the playoffs that came out today now that the season is over.

"Morin's line was great during the regular season, and that line was beat up in the playoffs," said Coach Desjardins. "[Fraser] breaks a finger [in Game 1] and you think, 'How bad can that be?', but when you're a shooter, that's about the worst thing you can have. Morin's banged up, and Sceviour is banged up too."

"All the sudden a group that's instrumental can play hard but isn't as effective. That's just how it was, and it hurt us. You can't change it though."

Some level of alarm was raised as well that the team was seeking to move Alex Chiasson to center, a move they made with Jamie Benn in Dallas. Chiasson allayed any concern that they had moved him from his natural winger position. The move was due to injury.

(Credit: Josh Rasmussen/Texas Stars)

"Dowling had a finger issue and couldn't take faceoffs," said Chiasson. "So I rotated in there. Going into playoffs, I felt comfortable there. It wasn't a switch; they needed someone to win faceoffs."

As to who played the position of center, especially in the defensive zone, that was less clear.

"Dowling and I switched on the ice a lot, but that probably hurt us. [OKC] knew what we were doing. I didn't do much that series; they're a good faceoff team. It's good for me as a player though. You want more in your bag."

With many of their key players injured, the Stars struggled to generate offense. Colton Sceviour had a shoulder issue; Travis Morin was still not 100% after the puck to the head against Milwaukee. Mike Hedden was similarly banged up as well.

"We had guys banged up who we would rely on for goal scoring," said Coach Lidster. "We have to develop secondary scoring."

(Lidster also noted that the Stars were very close to shutting down Patrik Nemeth for the season after his re-injury.)

Veteran Scoring

Part of that desired secondary scoring needs to be of the veteran variety, according to Lidster. He felt that OKC's veteran scoring and playoff experience was a big difference in the series.

"You look at their team. When the NHL went back to work, there was a transition. I know [OKC's coaches] were happy with their team because they thought they were stronger and more cohesive unit. They had guys like Arcobello who've been in the trenches and in the wars. It's not often that you go into the playoff without a lot of experience [like we did]. I think that was a difference."

Sceviour was one of only two top six forwards with AHL playoff experience. (Credit: Josh Rasmussen/Texas Stars)

Among the Stars' top 6, only two had AHL playoff experience, Sceviour and Morin. On the other side, OKC had players like Jonathan Cheechoo, Mark Arcobello and Josh Green just to name a few.

"They're a good team," said Chiasson. "Whoever gets out of the other series, they're going to give them a good shot. They have some experienced guys. You can't take the 50 goals [in the NHL] away from Cheechoo; those are guys that you have to watch."

Both coaches said that they felt OKC played a little bit smarter than Texas in the series with Lidster comparing it to Texas Hold 'Em.

"They had their cards, and they knew when to go all in. When they didn't, they knew when to fold them. They played a smart game. Goaltender was excellent, and we didn't challenge him enough. We have to work on that. Some of their key guys came through."

Puck Luck

The often-elusive puck luck played a big part in the series for the Stars, who had clearly spent some time over the weekend thinking about the chances that could have been.

"There were plays that we just didn't score on," said Desjardins. "Pucks were just laying there. We're up 3-2 in Game 4. We have two breakaways, and we didn't score. Those go in, and it's a different series. That said, they didn't go in, and we have to learn from that."

Colton Sceviour added, "If you give them chances, they can score 3 goals on 3 chances. They have those kinds of guys that can bury pucks given the opportunity.  We couldn't score on our chances and ended up giving them too many."

"We just didn't capitalize on our grade A chances. There were tons of chances where you look at it and say, 'If that goes in, it changes the game'."

Coach Desjardins had some sage words on the whole playoff series though, as closing thoughts.

"[In the playoffs,] opposing teams get better, and you either get better yourself or fall by the wayside. I have no complaint about whether our guys wanted it. Playoffs bring out the best in you. Before the last game, I said, 'A diamond is just a chunk of coal that made good under pressure.' That's what the playoffs are. Right at the start you don't always turn into that diamond. It doesn't mean we can't but just not this year."

Reports: Dallas and Edmonton to Play Preseason Game in OKC

Justin Schultz will be back and no doubt get a very nice reception from the Barons' faithful. (Credit: Steven Christy)

According to reports, the Dallas Stars will play the Edmonton Oilers in Oklahoma City during the NHL preseason next year. Friend of the site, Neal Livingston, broke the news, which had been swirling as a rumour for a while.

The game will no doubt feature many players expected on the Texas and OKC rosters next season, as have many preseason games in the past. It will be the first time Dallas has played a preseason tilt in a minor league barn since the unofficial Stars v. Stars friendly match during the inaugural season in Cedar Park. The Minnesota Wild were scheduled to play Dallas last year in Boise as part of their training camp in Idaho, but those plans were scuttled by the NHL lockout.

The elephant in the room here is no doubt the attendance issue. The series against Oklahoma City averaged just under 1,900 fans. Livingston did point out in an earlier post that those fans in attendance were very passionate and knowledgeable. The Barons were competing for much of the series with the Oklahoma City Thunder playoffs, both home and away dates. They should see a big bump from the obvious marketing appeal of an NHL team, especially one that had a lot of players in OKC last season. There's also the benefit of the Stars being the closest team to OKC, which may bring the travelers from the Metroplex and even Dalls or NHL fans in general who now live in Oklahoma.

Two Future Texas Stars Start Memorial Cup Battle Tonight

Current Star Matt Fraser had six points in five Memorial Cup games in 2010-11. (Credit: Steven Christy)

While the current Texas Stars may have bowed out of the playoffs last night in OKC, some future Texas Stars are getting ready for the annual battle for the Memorial Cup, starting this weekend in Saskatoon.

For those unfamiliar, the Memorial Cup pits the winner of each of the three Canadian major junior leagues and the host city's club against each other after the playoffs are over for each league. This year, the Saskatoon Blades lost in the first round of the WHL playoffs but earned a berth due to hosting the tournament.  The other competitors are the WHL's Portland Winterhawks, the OHL's London Knights, and the QMJHL's Halifax Mooseheads.

For Stars' fans, the two players to watch are forward Taylor Peters of the WHL's Portland Winterhawks and right wing Matej Stransky of the WHL's Saskatoon Blades. 

Taylor Peters is in his final, over age season in the WHL and was undrafted in the NHL. He was signed to an entry level contract by Dallas in early March. While he was in Portland, the club won three Western Conference championships and finally broke through to will the Chynoweth Cup this year. He is expected to join the Texas Stars next season.

Matej Stransky was drafted by the Stars in the sixth round of the 2011 draft, 165th overall. He picked up a lot of buzz after scoring 39-42-81 in 70 games last year for the Blades. He followed that up with 40-45-85 in 72 games this season. While his club got knocked out in the first round of the WHL playoffs, you can't count them out. The home crowd and two months to rest those injuries and practice all help the cause. Last year, the Shawnigan Cataracts hosted and won the tournament.

Games may be difficult to watch in the States until the finals. The game schedule for the tournament can be found here.

After Disappointing Round 2 Exit, Thoughts on What Went Wrong

Handshakes of the disappointing variety last night in OKC. (Credit: Steven Christy)

Less than twelve hours after the Stars ended their 2013 Calder Cup run in Oklahoma City, it's still a little difficult to process what happened. With so much promise in the regular season and the top seed going into the playoffs, the season is over in a flash. It wasn't a series of close, grinding games like the Milwaukee series either; Texas was outscored 16-4 in the Barons' barn.

There are a few thoughts that spring to mind immediately and certainly more will come as the next few days give me time to mentally go through the regular and postseason.

• The Barons' best players were their best players. I wrote about it in last night's game recap, but the Barons had phenomenal efforts from Yann Danis, Mark Arcobello, Toni Rajala and more. They also picked up solid performances from guys you might not have expected, like Taylor Fedun and CJ Stretch.
  
  
• Texas's best players were not their best players. Matt Fraser didn't have a point in the series and had the egregious turnover in OT of Game 1 to give the Barons the win. Alex Chiasson's only point came on the inconsequential lone goal last night. He struggled with the unexplained transition to center and was minus-8 in the series. The Stars' leading scorer in round 1, Kevin Connauton, had a single assist and was minus-8 in the series as well.
  
  
• Line shuffling last night was very confusing. Travis Morin, all-time points leader for Texas and all-time assists leader, was moved to the wing to be centered by Toby Petersen. Colton Sceviour dropped to the third line to center Glennie and Reilly Smith. Glennie had been doing well in the defensive center role in the series. While he hadn't recorded any points, coming into last night's game he was one of Texas's few plus players in the series. Also, Sceviour hasn't played center in months. It's not like you forget, but it's not the best time to make a shift and play with new linemates.
  
  
• There were warning signs of this possible end. After the trade deadline, Texas was going great guns but then dropped back-to-back games against Hamilton and OKC, both in the last minute of the game. At the time, it was mostly written off as troubling but, due to some of the lineup changes, excusable. The team beat San Antonio convincingly three times and split against Charlotte the next week, and it was mostly forgotten. Then the team backed into the postseason with losses against Houston and Rockford.
  
  You can say what you will about resting starters or chemistry, but in the last month of the season, Texas only beat a playoff team once. They were 1-3 against playoff clubs in April and that one win was in OT. Most of their games were against non-playoff clubs, where they were a still-unimpressive 3-2.
  
  
• Penalties weren't as bad as it looked on the surface if you're just looking at the numbers. Texas actually has the fewest PIMs in the playoffs, both overall and in terms of minors/game. However, the Stars allowed a power play goal in each of their games in OKC, going 10/13 on the kill overall. The penalties also seemed to come at the worst times, stopping momentum and handing it right to the Barons. There was a measure of frustration there clearly.

Now it's also time to start evaluating who will be back for next year, who's coming in from juniors and overseas, and many other future looking pieces of the puzzle, including who will be the Stars' ECHL affiliate. Stay tuned...

Texas Ends Season with 5-1 Game 5 Loss to Barons

Teemu Hartikainen had the Barons' first goal. (Credit: Steven Christy)

After a fantastic regular season, culminating in a top seed in the playoffs, and a tough and grinding first round series win, the Texas Stars have bowed out of the 2013 Calder Cup playoffs at the hands of the Oklahoma City Barons. After leaving Texas with a split of their home games, the Stars dropped all three games at the Cox Convention Center to fall 4-1 in the series.

Coach Desjardins attempted to change his team's luck with a lineup shift. He scratched Luke Gazdic and Joe Morrow in favor of Taylor Vause and Tyler Sloan, respectively. Toby Petersen cetnered the first line, moving Morin to right wing. Colton Sceviour centered Scott Glennie and Reilly Smith while Brett Ritchie and Francis Wathier were wingers on a line centered by Vause. Full lineup changes are included at the bottom of this article, as always.

In the end, the Barons were just too much for Texas. Something in the matchup between these two teams just didn't click for the Stars. The Barons' best players were their best players in the series. Mark Arcobello, Toni Rajala and a few others outpowered the talent on the Stars' bench. Matt Fraser didn't have a point in the series. Alex Chiasson had a single point, the secondary assist on the night's final goal in Game 5. Reilly Smith, Justin Dowling, Travis Morin and Colton Sceviour were not big enough factors to overcome the Barons outstanding netminding and firepower.

The Barons started in the first period with the offensive onslaught. Teemu Hartikainen rang one off the post and it dribbled in with 2:39 left in the opening frame. Texas outshot the Barons 12-8 in the period but left the ice for the first intermission down 1-0 and looking a bit defeated.

OKC kept it up in the second period as an early chance by the Stars turned back against them and Mark Arcobello dropped a pass for Taylor Fedun. The young defenseman backhanded the puck past Nilstorp for the 2-0 lead.

The Barons continued with a two-on-one goal by two players who started the year in the ECHL. CJ Stretch finished off the pass from Toni Rajala for the 3-0 lead. Both played extremely well in the series.

Former Star Garrett Stafford got a power play goal to open the third period with Jordie Benn in the box for delay of game. The Barons' fourth goal of the night was assisted by Brendan Davidson. Mark Arcobello added another as the team rounded out their scoring at five total goals. It was Arcobello's ninth goal of the postseason.

The Stars put a single goal on the board to end their season as Justin Dowling put up a power play tally with under three minutes left in the third period. Reilly Smith and Alex Chiasson assisted.

Texas will return to Cedar Park in the next twenty-four hours. The team will begin dispersing for Canada, Minnesota, and all their other hometowns not long after.

Tonight's lines:
Fraser-Petersen-Morin
Hedden-Chiasson-Dowling
R. Smith-Sceviour-Glennie
Wathier-Vause-Ritchie

Gaunce-Connauton
Oleksiak-Benn
Fortunus-Sloan

Nilstorp

Injuries, scratches, and notes:
Morrow, Gazdic, Sonne, McKenzie, Klingberg, Wrenn, Jokipakka, Cameron, Faksa, Todd, Commodore (scratch)
Nemeth (injured)

Tonight's attendance was 2,094.

AHL Gamesheet - Texas at Oklahoma City - May 16 2013