Dallas hoping stars align after disaster season: Season Preview
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Quote:
Under the direction of new GM Joe Nieuwendyk, the Stars have made many changes and are ready to roll with a younger lineup this season, though it is safe to expect the post-season hiatus in Dallas to extend one more year.
One of Nieuwendyk’s first changes was replacing coach Dave Tippett with Marc Crawford, who brings a new voice to the Dallas dressing room. Tippett had been with the Stars since 2002. Crawford won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996.
At forward, the Stars cut centre Brendan Morrison, claimed on waivers last season. Also gone are Steve Begin, Chris Conner, Joel Lundqvist, Mark Parrish, and Landon Wilson.
The Stars will see the return of forward Brenden Morrow, who missed most of last season with a knee injury. Morrow will fit on the top line, while Brad Richards, acquired a year ago from the Tampa Bay Lightning, will pivot the second line. Richards has yet to find his true stride in Dallas but will again be given the opportunity to improve.
Rounding out the top-nine forwards are Fabian Brunnstrom and Mike Modano, both at opposite ends of their NHL careers. With one year remaining on his contract, it is expected that this is the final season for the 39-year-old Modano. Meanwhile, Brunnstrom did not live up to his hype last season, save for a hat-trick in his debut game, and will look to rebound next season.
Dallas saw the loss of veteran blue-liners Darryl Sydor and Sergei Zubov. The Stars defense remains young, fronted by Matt Niskanen, Trevor Daley, Nicklas Grossman, and Stephane Robidas, while the additions of Karlis Skrastins and Jeff Woywitka bolster its stability.
The Stars also added goaltender Alex Auld from the Ottawa Senators, who will serve as backup to Marty Turco.
The reason Brunnstrom didn't live up to the so called hype is because of Tippett. He relegated him to almost no PP time and basically 4th line minutes.
He had 17 goals and 29 points in 55 games playing 4th line minutes. Granted he wasn't the best defensively to start the season, but especially late in the season...when the games hardly mattered...he really stepped his game up.
And I have to disagree that Richards hasn't found his stride. This team was rockin and roll in the middle of the season and one of the key reasons for that was because of Richards. After he went down, the team completely lost all momentum and that was the end of a playoff push.
__________________
DALLAS Stars | SMU Mustangs | ALABAMA Crimson Tide | KENTUCKY Wildcats | ARSENAL Gunners | LONGVIEW Lobos
36 League Championships - 17 Runner Ups - 103 Division/Conference Championships
2009 State Finalist | 2009 Hawai'i Bowl Champions | 2010 BCS National Champions
I must get up on my white horse and defend Bruno from slanderous accusations. Tippet hated his defense. To be fair Bruno was bad to start. He had no clue how to position himself or really who to pick up in his own end. Having never played on the smaller surface or in all probability in a system like Tippet had Bruno floundered to start. That got him in the doghouse. To the point where he was a getting less than five minutes a night and healthy scratched a few times.
The thing is though he tried. He spent time working on that part of his game and he gave effort. Quite frankly as bad as some perceived him to be it was never to the level of Patrick Kane's complete lack of interest in that portion of his game. Still Tippet barely trotted him out there. He'd probably still have languished on the bench had Crombeen not been claimed by the Blues, Morrow injured himself and Avery pissed on the team.
After that his choices were greatly impaired. Still Tippet ran Wilson, Peterson, Barch and others out in front of Brunnstrom not because they were better but because he lacked faith. Despite that Brunnstrom continued to score every third game and show flashes of brilliance. As the season went on his minutes/game increased. He was beginning to find his stride in that brilliant NYR game when another player collided with him rolling up his ankle.
After that he had some skating issues but was putting up points till for some inexplicable reason after the Edmonton game on 19th of Feb. Tippet started to take away the minutes he had earned. Then Brad Richards was gone, the line combinations were screwed up and Dallas had it's worst stretch of the year. Culminating in that god awful loss to Pittsburgh where Brunnstrom was scratched in favor of uber scrub Chris Conner.
Whether Tippet finally saw the light or was given an order from Les Jackson in the final five games of the season he finally got over 12 minutes of TOI per game with a real scoring line instead of 4th line minutes with scrubs. The result, he scored:
Game
Goals
Assists
Points
Shifts
TOI
CGY
1
0
1
14
13:47
STL
0
1
1
15
12:47
@MIN
1
0
1
19
13:04
@COL
1
0
1
18
15:52
@ANA
1
1
2
17
14:24
He finished the season with the team best 1.47 goals/60 minutes played. He also showed he could produce on a scoring line. In an open system freed from Tippet's obvious dislike he is going to take a huge step forward this year.
The issue with Brunnstrom wasn't his play, it was the massive amount of overhype (expect similar disppointment in Gustavsson this year).
I question whether he will take a massive step forward this year because he's too much of a solo operator and hasn't learned to play within a team game yet (which, obviously, could be different this year), but he had a decent year for a player that people expected far, far, far too much from.
That aside, this is a poor preview that demonstrates little knowledge of the Stars or the reasons for their struggles last season. It lacks of research (presenting Zubov as a loss without qualifying that he missed all but 10 games last year and saying "Richards has not found his stride" without qualifying that he missed about 1/4 of the season last year and was a key when he was healthy) and a has lack of depth. All it talks about is comings and goings, not their impact. Beyond the misspellings, Landon Wilson is still in the organization (signed a minor-league contract with Austin), and the article presents no reason why the Stars should be better or worse.
Last edited by Kritter471: 09-04-2009 at 08:26 PM.
Oh great another HF "partner" with another ****** poorly researched article
Safe to expect another postseason hiatus? Are you kidding me? If the west is anything like last season predicting who will finish outside of the top 5-6 is a crapshoot and I don't see the parity changing.
I'd kinda like to know how people are expecting far, far, far too much from Brunnstrom .....
I'd say most people have been fairly conservative with their expectations this year. You’re calling this guy out for his opinion on the Stars which pretty much mimics non-Dallas fans and the media. On the other hand, you use the same broad brush to paint Fabian fans.
For the most part, people on this board guess he'll score 20-30 goals. That's a solid prediction considering he was on pace for 25 with 4th line minutes. More than likely, his playing time will be similar to the last few games of last season so he should have better opportunities to produce.
Instead of judging his performance by a handful of games early on, I think most thoughtful fans saw his improvement throughout the year, and his commitment to try to defend (which unfortunately did lead to some disasters). I'd much rather have a player with the desire to defend because they can learn
Furthermore, you implore the author of this article to provide better examples of his opinion. Produce some examples of Brunnstrom being a freelancer. I can think of numerous times Brunnstrom deferred to a teammate. The fact is, Brunnstrom proved he can produce on his own and with his teammates.
I was talking about people expecting too much from Brunnstrom last year, not this coming one. Guys don't come over from European leagues and light up the NHL immediately. It takes them a few seasons to get settled into the NHL style of play. Saying he "did not live up the hype" is an indictment on the hype and the hype-rs, not Brunnstrom himself.
I hope he will be better this year. I want to see improvement from him in some specific areas to put a lot of stock that he will be better, but I don't think he was bad at all last year as an acquisition. I think he should have had some seasoning in the minors to adjust to the ice size, but given that it was a mutual agreement from both sides, I blame everyone for that issue. I want to see strides in his ability to work with his linemates to create, I want to see improvement in his strength on the puck and I want to see improvements in his defensive play. I think he has the ability to do all that.
And I wasn't ripping him for his opinion. I was ripping for being factually incorrect, intellectually dishonest (lying by omission) and making a statement then not backing it up.
And I wasn't ripping him for his opinion. I was ripping for being factually incorrect, intellectually dishonest (lying by omission) and making a statement then not backing it up.
IIRC, you work in some capacity with a newspaper. I guess I just expected some compassion or even constructive criticism without the harsh bite.
The guy's doesn't claim to be a professional:
"an aspiring journalist with a passion for hockey writing"
It was a decent effort that falls in-line with the majority of hockey fans (outside of Dallas). You made valid points, and hopefully he can use them to improve.
I really dont get the he didnt live up to the hype stuff. I guess maybe people interpreted his hype different. Yeah there were some who claimed he was going to be an instant hit, but those were the exception rather than the rule. I guess some of those voices must have drown out the more realistic fans who were interested in what he could bring to the ice. Most viewed him as a player who over time could prove to be quite a valuable contributor considering the cost of his acquisition. By my estimation his first NHL season proved to be a major success overall.
Basically I think some just misread the large amount of media coverage surrounding his choice of where to sign as hype that he was going to be incredible from the get go. Really though, slow hockey news time + interesting european free agent who can choose to sign anywhere = top of the list hockey news story.
IIRC, you work in some capacity with a newspaper. I guess I just expected some compassion or even constructive criticism without the harsh bite.
The guy's doesn't claim to be a professional:
"an aspiring journalist with a passion for hockey writing"
It was a decent effort that falls in-line with the majority of hockey fans (outside of Dallas). You made valid points, and hopefully he can use them to improve.
I agree with this. Theres no reason for people to be so harsh about such a simple article. I think the internet often times brings out too much impulse from us. The guy didnt come here to get offend anyone with his article or get trolled about it.
I just took the end comment off. Y'all are right that it's overly harsh (and the product of a really long, obnoxious day that isn't over yet, which isn't his fault).
My issue is mostly with the poor research. It's one thing to have issues with the writing - it's an art that takes a lot of practice, and it's something where everyone has to find their own voice. But getting facts wrong and presenting others in a deceptive manner, even unintentionally, is a cardinal sin.
It's basic journalism that people who are in the business have a very high standard for (and as an aspiring writer, he will need to learn it eventually). If it wasn't presented as a published piece, I wouldn't have cared. But the presentation of irked me on what has already been an obnoxious day.
Oh great another HF "partner" with another ****** poorly researched article
Safe to expect another postseason hiatus? Are you kidding me? If the west is anything like last season predicting who will finish outside of the top 5-6 is a crapshoot and I don't see the parity changing.
Just a quick note on this. I think this season, more so than past seasons, we'll see more parity than ever, with only two teams from each conference "being out of it" (NYI, Atlanta, Phoenix, Colorado).
In both conferences, I won't be surprised if spots 6th through 12th are separated by mere points. In the West, Dallas will be in the thick of things, but I have them ultimately losing out on the final playoff seeds to 7th) St. Louis and 8th) Minnesota.
Can't argue with St. Louis. Even when they were bad, they beat Dallas. On the other hand, I think the Central will kick the **** out of each other. One or two deserving teams will miss the playoffs because of average or poor division records dragging down their point total.
Just a quick note on this. I think this season, more so than past seasons, we'll see more parity than ever, with only two teams from each conference "being out of it" (NYI, Atlanta, Phoenix, Colorado).
In both conferences, I won't be surprised if spots 6th through 12th are separated by mere points. In the West, Dallas will be in the thick of things, but I have them ultimately losing out on the final playoff seeds to 7th) St. Louis and 8th) Minnesota.
I questioned this on another board and have yet to hear a good answer. What is superior about Minnesota's team in general and in comparison to Dallas? I'll give you the goalie Backstrom (Turco's going to have to prove something to me) but other than Burns and Mikko Koivu what's to love up there? Havlat is great if he can stay healthy. Does anyone really want to take that bet?
They have a new coach and system yet somehow that automatically makes him better than Crawford? The rest of their defense is better than Dallas' blue collar one?
Please Cory (and this is not an attack on you I've seen this train of thought by several HF posters and don't understand it at all) or anyone here for that matter explain the superiority of Minnesota. I don't see it.
