(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Now that we're into the Pacific Division, we're going to switch things up just a bit.
Instead of going up (or down) in the order teams will finish, the Pacific is going to be a bit more of a mish-mash. We started with the Phoenix Coyotes but from there we're going on to the team listed in the title...
2008/09 Record: 36-35-11, 83 points, 12th in West
Additions: Karlis Skrastins—D (2 years/$2.75 million), Jeff Woywitka—D (2 years/$1.3 million)
Subtractions: Brendan Morrison—F (FA), Steve Begin—F (FA), Sergei Zubov—D (Europe), Joel Lundqvist—F (Europe), Tobias Stephan—G (FA), Darryl Sydor—D (FA), Mark Parrish—F (FA)
The Dallas Stars were really A Tale of Two Teams in 2008/09.
Of course there were the Stars who crumbled out of the gate, burdened by a stumbling Marty Turco, an injury-ravaged roster and of course, the extra baggage of a player who no one really wanted on the team.
Of course, we’re talking about Sean Avery.
After being suspended indefinitely by the NHL on Dec. 2 for remarks that were less-than-kind to the NHL’s reputation, we saw a very different Stars team sans Avery.
With Avery, the Stars were 8-11-4. Without Avery (and this includes the December 2nd win in Calgary—the first game he missed) they were 28-25-5. Not groundbreaking by any means, but it’s certainly something.
Not quite Turk Broda…but Turco…
Although the post-Avery turnaround wasn’t without its troubles (There was a five-game losing streak in February and a seven gamer in March), Marty Turco was a big reason that there was a turnaround at all.
Although Turco suffered through a horrifically slow start, he did rebound to become one of only five goalies to have won 30 or more games in each of the past four seasons.
Looking at his stats, Turco’s turnaround coincided perfectly with the departure of the Sean Avery distraction, as following Nov. 26 Turco went 28-23-5, but more impressively dropped his goals-against from 3.50 to 2.81, and saw his save percentage rise nearly 30 points to .898.
If Turco can avoid another slow start, then he’ll be the engine that the Stars set their pace to, while they have a more than able backup in Alex Auld.
Auld, a former Bruin, Coyote, Panther and Canuck, has bounced back in his past two seasons after suffering through a year with some of the NHL lesser-lights and should provide capable insurance for 20 or more games if something goes awry with Turco.
The Richards get richer, as there’s always To-Morrow…
The Dallas Stars were hoping that tomorrow would come all of last year.
Although they had some shining performances out of rookie James Neal (Who should be good for another 20 to 24 goals while he’ll need to show marked improvements in his passing game) and Loui Eriksson (whose career-year will be hard to match), the Stars have a few returning forwards who’ll they be expecting big contributions out of as well.
While Brendan Morrow was on pace for a solid season (68 points over 82 games), the Stars’ heart-and-soul leader saw his season cut short due to a torn ACL in his right knee.
Most would think that’s alright when you have the likes of Brad Richards to rely on, but Richards had his own issues getting going, missing the last 25 games of the regular season with a broken wrist and hand (on opposite arms).
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