Texas Stars

January has been very kind to the Texas Stars as they ran their winning streak to a season high six games. It’s even more impressive when you consider that the Stars had their roster gutted for their final game of the week as good chunk of the roster went up to Dallas for training camp and they were playing three games in three days.

Goaltending was the story of the week for Texas as Cristopher Nilstorp stopped 37 of 39 shots in the two games he played and Jack Campbell had a great shutout of the OKC Barons in which he stopped 36 shots.

It was Campbell’s first shutout of the year and he should see a lot more time as Nilstorp is in training camp and could stay in Dallas for a while.

On the offensive side of the ice, Matt Fraser was the hero of the week as he had three goals and an assist to carry the Stars. Jordie Benn had two goals and an assist (in two games) and Colton Sceviour had a goal and two assists as well during the week.

The Stars will be without Nilstorp, Benn, Brenden Dillon, Reilly Smith, Cody Eakin and Antoine Roussel this week as they participate in the Dallas Stars training camp. They’ll be in the midst of a six-game road trip this week.

Jan. 16 – Texas Stars @ Chicago Wolves

Jan. 18 – Texas Stars @ Chicago Wolves (again)

Jan. 19 – Texas Stars @ Peoria Rivermen 

It’s been a loooooong time since free agency started for this NHL season and I’m sure fans have forgotten a few moves here and there. I thought I’d take a look back at what the teams in the Pacific Division did (besides the Stars) during the offseason just to remind Stars fans on the situation and what the division is going to be like this year.

Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks were very busy during the offseason and took on some significant contracts.

Major signings included defensemen Sheldon Souray and Bryan Allen and forward Daniel Winnik. They also got a boost when Teemu Selanne decided he would return for at least one more season.

While they did make a few big moves, the Ducks lost a couple of key pieces in free agency as well. Highly coveted defenseman Justin Schultz decided to jump ship and landed in Edmonton while Sheldon Brookbank left for Chicago.

The Ducks also traded Stars killer Lubomir Visnovsky to the New York Islanders for a 2nd-round pick.

Additions: F Daniel Winnik (2yrs/$3.6M), F Brad Staubitz (2yrs/$1.275M), D Sheldon Souray (3yrs/$11M), D Bryan Allen (3yrs/$10.5M)

Subtractions: F Jean-Francois Jacques (Florida, 1yr/$750K), F George Parros (Florida, 2yrs/$1.85M), D Sheldon Brookbank (Chicago, 2yrs/$5M), D Justin Schultz (Edmonton, 2yrs/$1.85M), D Lubomir Visnovsky (trade to NYI)

Re-signed: Teemu Selanne (1yr/$4.5M)

LA Kings

Very little happened in the land of the Cup champions as they mostly just kept their team the way it was. They lost scarcely used forward Ethan Moreau to retirement, depth goaltender Jeff Zatkoff to the Pittsburgh Penguins and minor leaguer Patrick Millen to the Vancouver Canucks.
On the additions front, the Kings added basically no one expect for some meaningless minor leaguers. They mostly just kept their own guys.

 They re-signed Dustin Penner, Colin Fraser and Jarret Stoll and gave contract extensions to Dwight King and Jonathan Quick. They could make one more move before the season starts (and after the CBA is ratified) in trading away backup Jonathan Bernier but they can’t find any takers for him.

Additions: No one of note

Subtractions: F Ethan Moreau (retired), D Patrick Mullen (Vancouver, 1yr/$600K), G Jeff Zatkoff (Pittsburgh, 2yrs/$1.05M)

Re-signed: C Colin Fraser (2yrs/$1.75M), C Jarret Stoll (3yrs/$9.75M), LW Dustin Penner (1yr/$3.25M).  

Today we preview what the goalie situation is going to look like this season in Dallas. In other words: Kari Lehtonen, Kari Lehtonen and Kari Lehtonen.

The Stars have always been a strong goalie development team and this year is certainly no different with the addition of Christopher Nihlstorp to the organization to the already fantastic crop of guys.

Kari Lehtonen

Everyone knows just how important Lehtonen is and the shortened 48-game season just boosts his importance level up 200%. Kari was the sole reason why the team was even in the playoff hunt at the end of the year. He dealt with a groin injury and looked slightly overworked at the end of last season so the extended break should be great for him. He’s had injury issues throughout his career so that short schedule will help.

Lehtonen is obviously going to start as many games as he possibly can but Dallas has to be careful not to overwork him this year with what could be a rough travel schedule. I have him starting 42 of the 48 games this year with him sitting out a few back-to-backs. He’s working with pretty much the exact same defense as last year (probably a little worse) so the shots will be coming quick succession again this season.

Lehtonen was absolutely fantastic last season and there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be just as good this year. If he can repeat what he did last year, this team will be in the playoffs.

2013 Prediction: 23 W, 17 L, 2 OTL, 2 SO, 2.37 GAA, .918 SV%

Richard Bachman

The man behind some of the best masks in the NHL was a very pleasant surprise last year. He filled in when Lehtonen was out with a groin injury and Andrew Raycroft was benched after showing off his terrible Andrew Raycroft goaltending. Bachman had an 8-5-1 record, won some tough games on the road and had a shutout in his limited time.

It looks like he’ll have some competition during training camp with the red-hot Christopher Nihlstorp for the backup job and it looks like he might start out this season with the Texas Stars. Whatever the case, he’ll be fine wherever he ends up. He could fill in here and there for Dallas or get some extended playing time down in Austin.

2013 Prediction: 3 W, 2 L, 0 OTL, 0 SO, 2.92 GAA, .903 SV%

Christopher Nihlstorp

Nihlstorp has been another great find for the Stars. He came into this season as an unknown as has grabbed the starting job with the Texas Stars away from Jack Campbell. He’s put up back-to-back shutouts twice this year and has started nearly every game since the start of December.

He’ll get a shot during training camp to get the backup spot at the beginning of the year for Dallas. If he gets the job, I think he’ll only be here for a short while so that Bachman can get some work with Texas so that he stays in game shape. He’s still been great this season and it would be fine seeing him get a game during the early season to get Kari some rest.

If a worst case scenario happens and either Bachman or Kari gets injured, Nihlstorp will find himself with a lot of time with Dallas.

2013 Prediction: 0 W, 1 L, 0 OTL, 0 SO, 4.00 GAA, .877 SV%

Today’s post on the Stars is over the defensive side of the ice for the team. Last season, Dallas was a mediocre (maybe even a poor) team defensively. Missed assignments were abundant and any team with some speedy forwards gave Dallas a lot of trouble. Their defensive numbers would have been much worse if not for the stellar play of Kari Lehtonen and at times, Richard Bachman.

This year could be a crapshoot for the Stars blue liners. A big part of it last season, Sheldon Souray, went to the Anaheim Ducks in free agency for a rather ridiculous contract. The laughably bad Adam Pardy was somehow snuck into a trade over to Buffalo and Nicklas Grossman was shuttled to Philadelphia midway through the season last year.

Stepping into those starting shoes will be a bunch of kids and a hopefully competent Aaron Rome. The parts will be much of the same though.

Alex Goligoski

It’s been a rather tough start to Goligoski’s Stars career. While he was pretty effective during the season that he was brought in, last season was very rough. Goose was brought in to be a dynamic playmaker from the blue line, on both even strength and the power play, but did very little last season aside from February. He disappeared during the last critical 18 games of the year (only four total points).

His struggles on the power play also killed the Stars (only nine total points on the PP). A significant hand injury that kept him out a month also did little to ease his troubles. He was alright on the defensive side of the ice. He blocked a ton of shots (93) and didn’t become a human pylon too often.

With all that said though, Goose should be better this season. The signings at forward should alleviate some of his concerns on the power play and he’s had plenty of time to get fully comfortable with the team’s system. He also never has to worry about being paired with Adam Pardy ever again so that’s a thousand pound gorilla off his back. I just want an above average season from him this year.

He’s really got to get his act together though on the ice or things could go sour on him quickly. He’s the highest paid defenseman on the team at $4.6 million per year and is here for four more seasons.

2013 Prediction: 4 goals, 17 assists, 21 points, +2 rating, 6 PIM

Trevor Daley

Daley might have been the Stars best defenseman last season, on both sides of the ice. I can’t remember many times last season where he got scorched by an opposing forward and he had a great year offensively. He set a career high in assists with 21 and led the team with 115 blocked shots.

Daley gets a lot of grief from Stars fans but he’s been a solid player the past few seasons and led the team in minutes last year. He plays big minutes on both special teams units and has always been a very durable player.

I’d love to see Daley get a little more physical but unfortunately that’s never been his style of play. He’ll need to be paired with Mark Fistric or a physical defender or opposing forwards are going to be all over Kari Lehtonen and screening the hell out of him.

2013 Prediction: 2 goals, 14 assists, 16 points, +1 rating, 28 PIM

Yesterday we previewed the top-six forwards that will be playing for the Stars this season. Today’s post is about the rest of the forwards that will or might see time with the Stars on the bottom two lines.

Last season we saw guys like Radek Dvorak, Adam Burish and Jake Dowell occupying these spots. They provided some fine defensive work and a lot of these guys played on the penalty kill but expecting offensive production from these fellas was a laughable joke. The only player that really showed that scoring touch was Eric Nystrom, but that was still mostly near the beginning of the season.

This year the Stars should be getting an influx of young talent to fill out the lines to go along with a few of those cagey veterans. The team seems to have finally embraced the future and fans should be getting a good look at some of those kids this year. So without further ado, here’re the rest of the forwards for the Stars.

Brenden Morrow

Morrow is one of the players this season that I’m most interested in watching. He’s been ravaged by injuries here and there the past few seasons and seems to be a shell of his former self. There’s been clamoring from fans to trade the captain while he still has any value. He enter this season a year older (34-years-old when the season starts) so all signs point downward for him.

This year though, I think fans will be okay with what Morrow has to offer on the ice. The extended break should have him as healthy as he’s ever been in the past five years. He’s not going to be 100%, but it’s close enough. He’s just a year removed from a career high 33 goal season so that scoring touch is still there somewhere and he still has someone roadblock value on the power play.

More than anything else though, Morrow finally gets to play in the right spot. He’s been miscast as a top-six forward the past couple of seasons (even if he was scoring goals). Morrow has always been the tough physical grinder type of player and he’ll right at home this year alongside (most likely) Vernon Fiddler and Eric Nystrom.

There’s should be no pressure out there for him to score a bunch of goals so he should more comfortable to just play his game.

The one thing that Morrow has to watch out for though is the penalty situation. Last season, Morrow was continuously getting shepherded into the sin bin. He was second on the team (by a wide margin) with 97 PIM despite just playing in 57 games. That level of disobedience is flat out unacceptable, especially from the captain of the team. Morrow has to be more careful with his play this season as the Stars lost a good chunk of their penalty killing forwards in free agency.

If all this fails and Morrow just doesn’t have it in him, well… at least it’s the last year of his contract.

2013 Prediction: 13 goals, 6 assists, 19 points, -4 rating, 48 PIM

Vernon Fiddler

Fiddler was one of the nice surprises on the team last season.  He was a reliable player that played a ton of penalty killing minutes and was one the team’s best face-off guys. Granted it was just around a 50% winning percentage but sadly that’s now the best on the team with Steve Ott and Adam Burish gone.

There could be numerous times this season when Fiddler is the guy out there taking the pivotal face-off so hopefully he gets a little more effective in the circle.

Out of the face-off dot, Fiddler will still lead the penalty kill team and he gets some better offensive talent beside him in Morrow. His assists should be a little more than expected. Nothing against Radek Dvorak but uhhh… he doesn’t exactly see the puck hit the back of the net much.

Fiddler should be a consistent player again this season and do his usual Fiddler things.

2013 Prediction: 3 goals, 11 assists, 14 points, -8 rating, 26 PIM

The Stars enter this season with the forward position as good as it’s been in a long time. The team actually has a true top-six instead of a top-four and two late line grinders and signed a couple of guys to shore up a horrific power play.

It’s a solid mix of veterans, a couple of guys in their primes on the verge of superstardom and a rather talented group of young prospects just starting their careers. All in all, I’m pretty damn optimistic about the group of forwards that the Stars are going to put onto the ice this season.

With that said, on to the previews and prognostication.

Jamie Benn

Benn has improved his numbers each year throughout his short career and the face of the franchise should have another great (albeit shortened) season this year. He’s healthy and should be more comfortable playing center in this system now.

He’ll most likely anchor a line with Loui Eriksson and Jaromir Jagr that should have Stars fans giddy with anticipation. Benn is in a golden situation with those two on the wings and I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t manage a point per game pace this year. He’s got a great rapport with Loui and Jagr should take some of the load of responsibilities off of his shoulders. It’s time for Benn to really cement himself as one of the foremost sports figures in the Dallas area this year.

Benn’s been keeping in shape during the lockout by playing hockey over in Germany so he’s good to go. He would have probably been able to put career numbers again this year if it had been a full season but his half season should still be quite impressive.

2013 Prediction: 24 goals, 29 assists, 53 points, +16, 28 PIM

Loui Eriksson

It’s good to be Loui Eriksson. The most consistent player on the Stars gets more help this year as he’s going to be playing with Benn and opposite Jagr. He’ll be primed to do one thing all year, shoot the puck.

It’s very tough to see a situation in which he doesn’t score at least 20 goals with the chances that he should be able to get himself this year. He’s been consistent for the last three seasons for at least 25 goals and 40 assists and should be able to get close to that many goals again (but not that many assists).

He should be able to get some numbers back on the power play with the additions of Jagr, Ray Whitney and Derek Roy to the team.

Like Benn, Loui would have easily been able to put up career numbers across the board if this had been a full season.

2013 Prediction: 24 goals, 22 assists, 46 points, +19, 2 PIM

Texas Stars

This past week couldn't have gotten much better for the Texas Stars. They had two back-to-back games on the road against the Abbotsford Heat (the top team in the AHL at the time) and came away with three out of four points. They've gotten 10 out of 14 points since the beginning of December and have been on roll since mid-November.

The Stars outplayed the Heat in both games and probably would have won the second game if not for the goaltending of Barry Brust (he stopped 39 of 40 shots). He was able to hold on to beat Jack Campbell and the Stars in the shootout.

Campbell and Cristopher Nilstorp split the two games and both guys did well. Nilstorp saved 20 of 21 shots in the Stars 3-1 win while Campbell saved 25 of 26 shots. It's one of Campbell's best games of the year sothat was really good to see as he had been struggling for the past month.

It was another week and another goal for Reilly Smith as he continues to play very well in December. He now has four goals in December and his six points this month has doubled his yearly total.

Cody Eakin had a goal and two assists last week and he now has a three games point streak. He has a point in five of the last six games and continues to lead the team in points with 18 (which really isn't all that much). No Stars player is in the top-60 in the AHL in scoring so it's good to see this team succeeding as a team.

Dec. 19 - San Antonio Rampage @ Texas Stars

Dec. 21 - Texas Stars @ OKC Barons

Dec. 22 - Texas Stars @ OKC Barons

The Overseas Pros

Note: Just about all European leagues had last week off so there's not much to write here.

Jamie Benn - Hamburg Freezers

The DEL was the one league in Europe that didn't go on a holiday but as luck would have it, the Freezers somehow had no games scheduled last week. Benn returned to North America during that time and should be back in Germany this week as the NHL lockout is still in full effect.

There were some rumblings that he might stick around here until after New Year's so who knows. Hamburg has three games this week so it'll be interesting to see if he suits up.

Season totals: 19 games, 7 goals, 13 assists, 30 PIM, +8 rating

Dec. 18 - ERC Ingolstadt @ Hamburg Freezers

Dec. 21 - Ausburger Panther @ Hamburg Freezers

Dec. 23 - Hamburg Freezers @ Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers

Jaromir Jagr - HC Kladno

A week of rest should only make Jagr more unstoppable as he spends the week soaking in the fountain of youth. He enters this week with eight goals and nine assists in his last 11 games.

Season totals: 24 games, 18 goals, 25 assists, 24 PIM, +15 rating 

Dec. 19 - Kladno vs Pardubice

Dec. 21 - Kladno vs Chomutov

Dec. 23 - Kladno vs Ceske Budejovice

Loui Eriksson - HC Davos

Loui has only had a short debut week of hockey so far this year so it's good to see him back on the ice. He certainly didn't need the rest last week and has to be itching to go again.

Season totals: 2 games, 1 goal, 0 assists, 0 PIM, +1 rating

Dec. 18 - Davos vs Servette

Dec. 21 - Davos vs Kloten

Dec. 22 - Davos vs Zug

Tom Wandell - Severstal Cherepovets

Expect more of the same from Wandell this week. Lot's of ice time and not too much on the scoresheet.

Season totals: 21 games, 1 goal, 7 assists, 12 PIM, -3 rating

Dec. 20 - Severstal Cherepovets vs Vityaz Chekhov

Dec. 22 - Severstal Cherepovets vs Dinamo Minsk

Philip Larsen - Rauman Lukko

Just one game for Larsen this week. Larsen and his team have much of next week off as well for Christmas so this will be the only game played from Dec. 9 till Dec. 27.

Season totals: 21 games, 5 goals, 7 assists, 22 PIM, +9 rating

Dec. 18 - Lukko vs Jokerit

Stephane Robidas - HIFK Helsinki

Robidas' contract ran out with Helsinki and the team chose not to bring him back. Thus, the Stephane Robidas overseas experiment is over and done with. 

Final season totals: 15 games, 2 goals, 3 assists, 22 PIM, -11 rating

Texas Stars

It was another positive week for the Texas Stars as they went 2-0-1-0 in their three games last week. They squeaked out an OT win over the Milwaukee Admirals before falling in overtime (their third straight overtime game) to the Houston Aeros. They closed the week with a resounding 4-1 win over the Peoria Rivermen.

Cristopher Nilstorp started all three games and did quite well, even though he didn't face the high number of shots that he usually does. He stopped 65 of 69 shots and earned first and second star honors in the first two games of the week. He's been a great signing for the Stars.

On the non-goalie front, Reilly Smith had his second multi-point game of the month with two goals in the win over Peoria. He's been in a pretty good groove lately and seems to have finally adjusted to the speed of the pro game. He's been one of the most aggressive players on the team for the past few weeks and it's showing on the scoresheet. He, Colton Sceviour and Matt Fraser have been the best forwards for Texas during this good stretch of games.

Texas gets a weird scheduling quirk this week as they play the Abbotsford Heat on back-to-back nights on the road.

Dec. 14 - Texas Stars @ Abbotsford Heat

Dec. 15 - Texas Stars @ Abbotsford Heat

The Overseas Pros

Note: All European leagues are taking this week off so there will be no games played by anyone anywhere at anytime.

Jamie Benn - Hamburg Freezers

After two weeks without any points, Jamie Benn finally got himself back on the scoresheet. It was a big week offensively for the Freezers and Benn was in the giving mood. He had five assists in three games last week as the Freezers went 2-1-0. He was also earned second star honors so all is well again in Benn-land.

The Freezers don't play again until Dec. 18 so Benn gets a rest this week.

Season totals: 19 games, 7 goals, 13 assists, 30 PIM, +8 rating

Jaromir Jagr - HC Kladno

Kladno had a terrible week as it lost all three games but Jagr once again played well with two goals and two assists for another great week. He's no had eight goals and nine assists in his last 11 games. He may be as old as dirt but he can still play at a high level.

The only problem last week was that his team lost all three games by a combined 14-6 margin. His team sits fifth in the Extraliga table, 10 points behind the leader.

Hopefully he sticks around for one more NHL season with the Stars next year. 

Like Benn, Jagr and his team don't play again until Dec. 18 so the old man gets extra rest this week.

Season totals: 24 games, 18 goals, 25 assists, 24 PIM, +15 rating 

Loui Eriksson - HC Davos

Loui made his overseas debut on Friday for Davos and got himself a goal and a front row seat to a 8-1 thrashing of Lugano. He's playing on a line with Petr Sykora and Joe Thornton and should be able to tear through the Swiss league once he gets more comfortable there.

Like most of Europe, there are no games in the Swiss league next week so Loui has to wait until Dec. 18 before he gets back on the ice again.

Season totals: 2 games, 1 goal, 0 assists, 0 PIM, +1 rating

Stephane Robidas - HIFK Helsinki

Robidas' contract ran out with Helsinki and the team chose not to bring him back. Thus, the Stephane Robidas overseas experiment is over with. 

Final season totals: 15 games, 2 goals, 3 assists, 22 PIM, -11 rating 

Tom Wandell - Severstal Cherepovets

Three games for Wandell and Severstal last week and he managed to actually get an assist. Any point for Wandell is a big bonus at this point so don't expect too much from him.

Season totals: 21 games, 1 goal, 7 assists, 12 PIM, -3 rating

Philip Larsen - Rauman Lukko

Just one game for Lukko last week and Larsen registered an assist during that game. Larsen had one assist in Lukko's three games last week. Larsen ended November with a solid couple weeks of play with five points in three weeks. He's doing quite well for himself over in Finland.

Season totals: 21 games, 5 goals, 7 assists, 22 PIM, +9 rating

Texas Stars

It was a pretty difficult, though in the end rewarding, week for the Texas Stars. The team had four games last week, all on the road, and came out of it with a 3-1-0 record. There was a squeaker 5-4 win and another that ended after a 10-round shootout. There was a little bit of everything last week.

Jack Campbell and Cristopher Nilstorp alternated starts for the four games and Nilstorp is still looking to be the more impressive goalie (this year at least). Campbell was 1-1-0 and allowed seven goals on 76 shots. Nilstorp went 2-0-0 and allowed four goals on 64 shots (not including stopping nine out of 10 shots in the shootout win). 

A good number of skaters had a good week (like Alex Chiasson and Colton Sceviour) but the two that stood out for me were Reilly Smith and Jordie Benn. Smith scored the first pro goal of his career on Tuesday and had two more by the end of the week. He had the most shots among all the forwards last week (11) and was active all over the ice. He had a lot of promise coming out of college and it's nice to finally see him getting on the scoresheet.

Meanwhile, Benn was just as dangerous a sniper as Smith was last week. Benn had three goals of his own, along with one assist, and had the most shots out of anyone of the team (13). It's the best offensive output Benn has had since November of last year.

One worrisome note from last week was the puck possession for the Stars. Texas was outshot in three of the four games and outshot overall by a 137-101 margin. Opposing teams are controlling the game and putting a ton of pressure on Campbell and Nilstorp. It hasn't been a problem for most of the year though so hopefully it doesn't become a recurring issue.

Dec. 05 - Texas Stars @ Milwaukee Admirals

Dec. 07 - Houston Aeros @ Texas Stars

Dec. 08 - Peoria Rivermen @ Texas Stars

The Overseas Pros

Jamie Benn - Hamburg Freezers

The Freezers only had one game last week and Jamie Benn wasn't around to see all of it. Benn got himself a game misconduct during the third period of a 5-0 win over the Iserlohn Roosters after a heated tangle with Mark Bell after Bell took expection to a clean (and rather tame) hit that Benn put on one of Bell's teammates.

Benn went pointless in the game and has now gone two weeks without a point. He did play well though and just couldn't get some help from his line in the shooting department. He is now below the point per game pace though.

Highlights of the game can be found here. 

Season totals: 16 games, 7 goals, 8 assists, +3 rating

Dec. 04 - Dusseldorfer EG @ Hamburg Freezers

Dec. 07 - Kolner Haie @ Hamburg Freezers

Dec. 09 - Hamburg Freezers @ Hannover Scorpions

Jaromir Jagr - HC Kladno

The Czech Extraliga cannot contain Jaromir Jagr. The yet-to-suit-up-in-a-Stars-sweater Dallas Star had another goal and two assists in two games last week for HC Kladno. That's now six goals and seven assists in the last eight games for veteran. Unfortunately I'm now resigned to the fact that despite signing with the Stars, we'll never see Jagr play a game for the team. He leads the team in points and assists. 

Season totals: 24 games, 16 goals, 23 assists, +17 rating

Dec. 04 - Kladno vs Kometa Brno

Dec. 07 - Kladno vs Vitkovice

Dec. 09 - Kladno vs Sparta Prague

Stephane Robidas - HIFK Helsinki

Helsinki had two games last week and Robidas did not register a point in the one game that he played in.  

Season totals: 15 games, 2 goals, 3 assists, -11 rating

Dec. 05 - Helsinki vs SaiPa

Dec. 07 - Helsinki vs Hameenlinna

Dec. 08 - Helsinki vs Ilves

Tom Wandell - Severstal Cherepovets

Two games for Wandell and Severstal last week and he was back to his usual no point self. It's difficult to imagine that Wandell actually did explode for three points during the Thanksgiving week.

Season totals: 19 games, 1 goal, 6 assists, -2 rating

Dec. 03 - Severstal vs Avangard (already played. Wandell actually had an assist in a 2-1 OT win)

Dec. 05 - Severstal vs Barys

Dec. 07 - Severstal vs Yugra

Philip Larsen - Rauman Lukko

Larsen had one assist in Lukko's three games last week. Larsen ended November with a solid couple weeks of play with five points in three weeks. 

Season totals: 20 games, 5 goals, 6 assists, +8 rating

Dec. 17 - Rauman Lukko vs Assat

Texas Stars

Some steam left the Texas Stars train last week. The Stars were heading into the week on a three-game winning streak but ended up losing two of three games last week (one in overtime). Cristopher Nilstorp's back-to-back shutouts were quickly forgotten as he gave up six goals in the Wednesday game against the OKC Barons.

Nilstorp started all three games and ended up missing the third period of the game Sunday with some kind of food poisoning. Overall, Nilstorp allowed nine goals on 78 shots.

Colton Sceviour had a solid offensive week with two goals and two assists and Jamie Oleksiak continues to be a nice playmaker from the blueline (two more assists). Matt Fraser also looks like he's the only guy on the team who can score on the power play (four in the last two weeks).

Cody Eakin didn't miss any games last week after suffering an injury while blocking a shot. He had one assist in the Stars' three games.

The Stars have a busy week as they have the final four games of their road trip this week.

Nov. 27 - Texas Stars @ Rockford Icehogs

Nov. 30 - Texas Stars @ Grand Rapids Griffins

Dec. 01 - Texas Stars @ Grand Rapids Griffins

Dec. 02 - Texas Stars @ Peoria Rivermen

The Overseas Pros

Jamie Benn - Hamburg Freezers

Shockingly, Jamie Benn had no points in the Freezers' two games last week and was actually held without a shot against the Krefeld Pinguine. It's Benn's worst week since he's been in Germany.

Nov. 30 - Iserlohn Roosters @ Hamburg Freezers

Jaromir Jagr - HC Kladno

While Benn might have had an off week, Jagr continued to tear through the Czech League with another two goals and five assists in three games. At this point, I'm just pissed that there's a lockout and we can't see a little bit of this with the Dallas Stars. If this lockout goes the full season, Stars fans may never see Jagr skating the ice in a Stars sweater.

Nov. 29 - Kladno vs Karlovy Vary

Dec. 02  - Kladno vs Liberec

Stephane Robidas - HIFK Helsinki

Not much for Robidas last week. Two games for Helsinki, two losses and no points for Robidas. It's the first time in the past month that Robidas has gone a week at least without a point.

Nov. 27 - Helsinki vs Assat

Dec. 01 - Helinki vs Espoo

Tom Wandell - Severstal Cherepovets

Thanksgiving week provided a miracle for Tom Wandell. He had a goal (a real actual goal!) and two assists (two whole assists!) for three points in three games last week. The goal was Wandell's first of the season and the first time that he's had a point in nearly a month. His scoring output is surprisingly low (even for him) for a guy playing top minutes so it's nice to see him get on the scoresheet. Hopefully he can keep it up.

Nov. 28 - Severstal vs Tractor Chelyabinsk

Nov. 30 - Severstal vs Yekaterinburg

Philip Larsen - Rauman Lukko

Larsen had another pretty good week last week. He followed up a two goal week with a goal and an assist in three games. Four points in two weeks is quite excellent for Larsen. He's been without a point for almost all of November so two straight weeks with points is great.

Nov. 27 - Rauman Lukko vs Ilves

Nov. 29 - Rauman Lukko vs Karpat

Dec. 01 - Rauman Lukko vs Tappara