Texas Stars and Prospects Thread

[ScubaSteve]

The real question now is who is going to come up when Lethonen gets injured/waived/traded? Lagace probably isn't ready, and I don't think we have another goaltender under contract right now.

[ScubaSteve]

The real question now is who is going to come up when Lethonen gets injured/waived/traded? Lagace probably isn't ready, and I don't think we have another goaltender under contract right now.

[B Kat]

Should have drafted Larkin over Honka.....maybe...

And as much as I have liked Campbell, he needs to be demoted.

[ToddM]

Campbell's had a pretty maddening season. He'll stop 28 of 28 in relief, then give up 5 of 14 the next time out. Total head case, obviously, with the skillz to dominate but can't get it all together.

I blame his Chris Kyle mask. Tho having Mike Valley down there "developing" him hasn't helped either Campbell or our once-amazing QMJHL goalie.

[ScubaSteve]

Shore is out for the year. That sucks. After Faksa and Ritchie, we are pretty much out of forwards to call up.

[Eskimo Spy]

Campbell is so far out of favor that they called up Desrosiers after Lagace was injured. Not a god sign.

[Troy McClure]

Campbell is done as a Star. He was given a one-year deal to prove himself. He will be allowed to walk on July 1.

[ToddM]

Campbell is so far out of favor that they called up Desrosiers after Lagace was injured. Not a god sign.

They pretty much had to, tho. You can't send a guy down to clear his head, and then bring him back up three seconds later.

Really, tho, if he can't figure it out now, he'll probably be traded to Montreal or someplace, where he'll immediately start and post a .925 save percentage in his rookie season.

[ToddM]

Canada just got bumped from the first round of the WJC. Suck it, ya hosers!

[B Kat]

Ha ha. Canada lost three games. US, Sweden and now Finland. Wow!

[ToddM]

Seems like we've seen this before...

[Troy McClure]

Yes, he has a bright future as an ECHL goalie.

[ToddM]

Roope Hintz just scored the game-tying goal in Finland's 2-1 upset over Sweden.

[B Kat]

Awesome! I thought for sure Sweden was going to win. Also thanks for the reminder, I keep forgetting about these games. Imma turn on Russia/US.

[ToddM]

Awesome! I thought for sure Sweden was going to win. Also thanks for the reminder, I keep forgetting about these games. Imma turn on Russia/US.

The US was sitting on a 1-0 lead, then gave up two goals in quick succession.

[B Kat]

Welp, the Russians won. While Finland and Sweden are fierce competitors, Finland and Russia are natural enemies in the wild.

[ToddM]

http://www.tsn.ca/world-juniors/game/un ... 0105/Stats

I haven't seen a Swede get pounded like this since Forsberg raped that tree fungus. Bronze is better than silver, any way you look at it.

[B Kat]

The Finns won the Gold. But they almost blew it. They were leading 3-2 and the Russians tied with 6 seconds left. I thought for sure that was it, but the Finns scored pretty quick in OT.

[ToddM]

Real quote from Tom Renney, the head honcho for Canada's tire fire of a WJC team (and former Oilers head coach):

“There is a point in time where that transfer of responsibility goes from the coach to the player and that’s the beauty of this event. We’re talking about teenagers that have to cope and deal with situations in the spontaneity of hockey that sometimes work against you and sometimes don’t. The bottom line is the coaching staff did an excellent job. At the end of the day, our special teams needed to maybe perform a little bit better. When your save percentage is under .900, everybody knows that it’s going to be tough to win.”

Huh. Strange how this guy was never able to motivate or connect with any of the Oilers' high draft picks. Amazing.

[Jason]

Nill

On Esa Lindell’s play midway through the season:

“Esa, he’s definitely a big part of our future. I was able to watch him last year in the World Championships when I was over there. And he was one of Finland’s top young defensemen, he’s 20, just turned 21 years of age. He’s still developing, but he’s got a bright future ahead of him. He’s one of the best young defensemen in the American League. And probably one of the top defensemen at his age in the world. We’re excited where he’s at and we’re looking forward to him being a Dallas Star one of these days.”

[Jason]

Stars win 6-1.

“I think Phil and Max have grabbed that one and two role. And one versus two is really up to the coach,” Texas Stars general manager Scott White said. “They’ve come in and been ready and made the most of an unexpected situation.”

“Jack has gone down and played well in Idaho,” White said. “But the ECHL is not the AHL. It’s all about taking advantage of opportunities, and Phil and Max have done everything they need to. I don’t see any reason to change the situation.”

[ToddM]

PICK SAVED:

[ScubaSteve]

I look forward to seeing him get rewarded with a promotion to the AHL and then getting injured two weeks later.

[Troy McClure]

He will be rewarded in the summer when the Swiss league offers him a contract.

[Jason]

Laxdal on Faksa the other day

“I thought the best game he’s played all year was the other night in Lake Erie,” Texas Stars coach Derek Laxdal said. “I thought he was outstanding. We did a recap this morning and it was just a Radek Faksa video. … It’s not going to be long before he’s a Dallas Star. If they had a spot for him, he’d be up there right now.”

Simple approach working for Jack Campbell in ECHL

Campbell credited much of his ECHL success to his time watching Anders Lindback play in the AHL last season.

[ScubaSteve]

Valley's system at work.

[B Kat]

There are peaks. And then there are Valley's.

[B Kat]

Went to the Texas Stars/San Diego Gulls game. Stars won 6-3, big night for McKenzie and Ritchie. Legace made some pretty great saves, which was nice to see! Texas lead throughout, but SD made it a good game and came within one goal a couple times. 6th goal was an empty netter.

The only bad part was the screeching, and I mean screeching fan sitting directly behind me. I may have lost an eardrum.

[ToddM]

After posting a ridick 14-5-1, 1.68 GAA, .944 save in 20 games in the ECHL (yes, it's just the ECHL, but those are the best numbers of any ECHL goalie by a country mile), Campbell is back with the Texas Stars. In his first game in relief of Lagace, he stopped 17 of 17. He's still officially Legace's backup, tho..... [i]for now[/i].

[Jason]

HF's top 20 Stars prospects.