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Detroit Red Wings Villains: 2015 Dallas Stars

By John Curran

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Over the next 30 days, Octopus Thrower profiles every Detroit Red Wings “villain” in the NHL. Today we take a closer look at the Dallas Stars.

Team Name:

Dallas Stars

Division:

Central

FanSided Foe:

Blackout Dallas

Games Against Them:

Home:

November 8th

Away:

February 29th

Last Year’s Results:

Detroit won both meetings against the Stars in 2014-15

Head Coach:

Lindy Ruff

Watch out for these guys:

  • Jamie Benn: The skilled and gritty captain of the Dallas squad. Benn led Dallas in points and assists last season and is always a threat every time he hits the ice.
  • Tyler Seguin: Seguin led Dallas in goals last season with 37. Much like Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin is always an offensive threat with the puck.
  • Patrick Sharp: “Hat-trick” Sharp will bring his veteran leadership and goal-scoring ability to Dallas after coming to Dallas from the Stanley Cup winning Blackhawks. Sharp has played many games against the Red Wings in his career and will bring that experience to Dallas.
  • Antoine Roussel: This feisty Frenchman can be a nasty little pest out on the ice. Roussel is not afraid to take a run or start a fight with an opposing player. He led Dallas in penalty-minutes last season.

Farmhands worth Noting:

  • Devin Shore: Shore is a product of the University of Maine and the Stars have high hopes for him. He is currently Dallas’ top prospect at the center position and immediately impressed during the AHL Calder Cup playoffs last year.
  • Brett Ritchie: The Stars’ top right-wing prospect. Ritchie is a talented, skilled and big winger who has scored a lot of goals in the AHL. We may be seeing him sooner, rather than later.
  • Julius Honka: Honka was Dallas’ first-round pick (14th overall) in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Julius’ skills as a slick skating and puck moving defenceman could eventually boost Dallas’ questionable blue-line.

Goaltender:

Kari Lehtonen

Sieve or Savior?

Sieve & Savior. Lehtonen can be comparable to Jimmy Howard. When he’s hot, he’s hot, but when he get’s off his game, you know the rest. Kari suffered an inconsistent and shaky 2014-2015 season after a pretty impressive 2013-2014 season. Although his numbers weren’t terrible in 2014-15 (2.94 GAA, .903 SV%) the Stars were expecting a more reliable performance from him last year.

By adding Antti Niemi to the picture, the Stars could have a potentially powerful goalie-tandem. With Niemi backing him up, Lehtonen could be forced to up his game and become a top goaltender.

8 Quick Thoughts about the Stars

4 Things We Respect About You:

  1. The 7-6 game you played against us last year.
  2. Jim Nill is your GM.
  3. You guys re-signed Patrick Eaves.
  4. Your team’s hilarious jumbotron antics.

4 Things We Hate About You:

  1. You deprived us all of the awesome Minnesota North Stars logo.
  2. Jim Nill is your GM
  3. Jamie Benn punched Zetterberg in the head.
  4. Your unappealing 2003 alternate jerseys.

Playoff Threat Level (1-10, 1 being minimal)

Despite adding some big-name/key players to their roster, I’m still going to give the Stars a playoff threat level rating of 4. If the Stars do play some good and consistent hockey all year they could find themselves in a position to push for a wild card spot. Unfortunately for the Stars they are in an extremely tough division.

Final Thoughts

Personally, I have no real hatred or animosity towards the Dallas Stars or their fans. I can’t completely hate a team that Patrick Eaves plays for. The Stars have a talented young group of NHL players and have added a talented piece to their front-office in the form of Jim Nill. I believe that Dallas is setting themselves up to be a better hockey team than they were last season and could possibly push for a playoff spot in the tough Western Conference/Central Division.

Next: Check out who is trending up and down for the Detroit Red Wings

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