Did the NHL get it right on the Neal penalty?
November 20, 2009, 1:59 PM
By: Richard Durrett
I said after seeing the hit and talking to James Neal in the dressing room after Thursday's game that I didn't think he should be suspended. But after watching it a few more times, I can understand the NHL doing something. The fact that Neal didn't intend to injure him is why it shouldn't have been a long suspension (and it wasn't). Intent, though, shouldn't absolve Neal from all penalties.
My bet is had the officials missed the call completely, Neal would have received three games. But since he basically missed half of Thursday's game and Columbus got the power play for five minutes on the major penalty and scored twice, the league probably felt that was enough.
Not having the club's leading goal scorer on the ice will hurt, no doubt. We'll see how Warren Peters responds. He should get a chance to play now.
Do you think the suspension on Neal was fair?
Analyzing the Stars at the NHL's quarter pole
November 20, 2009, 4:22 PM
By: Richard Durrett
FRISCO, Texas -- The Stars have reached the quarter point of the season. And that gives us an excuse to do a quick evaluation. We'll hand out some awards and get into greater detail once the Stars reach the halfway mark of the 2009-2010 season. And we'll talk more about individual players over the next few days. But here are some topics of discussion from the first quarter of the season:
New staff, new system: The big storyline before the season began was coach Marc Crawford coming in and installing his system of up-tempo, aggressive hockey that puts a premium on the defensemen joining in the attacking zone. The idea is to put as much pressure on the opponent as possible, while still covering defensively. Crawford has been pleased with how the club has taken to the system. His complaint is that he wants to see it more consistently.
"We've got a good group of character people," Crawford said. "We've got a depth of talent on our team. When we really put our minds to it and we play the way we're supposed to, we're a formidable opponent. I think you look at when we play our best it's hard to distinguish who's the top line and the second and third line. We have some nights where we can go four lines deep and they are good lines."
Consistently inconsistent: It didn't take Crawford or Nieuwendyk long to point to inconsistency as the biggest disappointment for the Stars this season so far. The Stars are 3-3-3 at home and have 24 points on the season, which was eighth in the conference as of Friday afternoon.
"I think part of it is the players have to understand, and I think we've been guilty of this, there's so much parity that it shouldn't matter if you're playing Minnesota, Phoenix or Detroit or San Jose," Nieuwendyk said. "Every night is going to be a tough game. As players you have to mentally prepare yourself to be ready. We've been guilty of not respecting our opponent."
Defensive posture: One area of concern entering the season was if the Stars' defensive corps could hold up. Those defensemen, led by Stephane Robidas, have done the job and embraced Crawford's philosophy. Give assistant coach Charlie Huddy some credit for that. Robidas and partner Nicklas Grossman are charged with containing the opponent's top players. And for the most part, they've done the job.
"I love the way our defense has battled this year," Crawford said. "Most people would not categorize our defense as one of the powerhouse defenses in the league, but I think they've sorted themselves quite well throughout the year."
General manager Joe Nieuwendyk said Robidas and Grossman would be two of the more impressive players he's watched through the first 21 games.
Goalies stay fresh: It's clear that Crawford does not want to see Marty Turco burn out or carry too heavy a workload. That's where having a backup you can trust becomes vital. Last season, Turco had to play nearly every game because the staff wasn't sure if Tobias Stephan could do the job. This season, Alex Auld has been given opportunities and has played well. He was solid Wednesday in a 3-1 win over Detroit on the road. And his ability to play in various situations means Turco can take time to work on his fundamentals and to get a break.
"I think the goaltending has been good," Crawford said. "Marty's puck movement has been better than I thought it was. I think Alex has come in and played well."
Looking for more scoring?: For a club designed to get aggressive and attack the net, the Stars aren't scoring enough goals. They are averaging 3 a game, which isn't bad. But the last few weeks, they seem to be stuck at 2 goals or less with few exceptions. Crawford isn't worried, insisting that if they continue to get good scoring chances, they'll go in. He wants to see players crashing the net and fighting to get in the tough spots to score those goals.
Part of the issue on scoring goals is taking advantage of power plays. The Stars are 21st in the league on with the man-advantage, something they are working on improving.
"We should be a team that should be able to score," Crawford said. "You have to have a willingness to score dirty goals. That's the area that we probably have to pick up the most. I thought we've done that on the power play, so that's the first step. You need net presence to score. You have to make it difficult for goaltenders to react and that's how you become a good goal scorer."
Working on penalty kill: The Stars began the season slowly on the penalty kill, but have improved. Yes, Thursday's game against Columbus wasn't good. But in the weeks leading up to Thursday's game, the unit was pretty solid.
Still, the Stars sit 21st in penalty kill as well. That's an improvement over a few weeks ago, when they hovering close to last in the league.
Waiting for break on the schedule: One thing the Stars could use is a schedule that gives them some rhythm. They've either had four days between games or had games in bunches. That's part of playing in a season with the Olympics. But that doesn't mean it's easy.
"I see us as we get through these tough periods and if we keep our heads above water, we're going to be in good form as we move forward and get more of a favorable schedule," Crawford said.
Stars' Neal suspended two games
November 20, 2009, 2:07 PM
By: Richard Durrett
FRISCO, Texas -- Dallas Stars forward James Neal was suspended two games by the NHL on Friday for his hit on Columbus' Derek Dorsett during Thursday's game.
Neal, 22, was whistled for boarding in the second period of Thursday's 4-1 loss to the Blue Jackets when he hit Dorsett in the back, causing Dorsett's head to hit the glass. Dorsett had to be helped off the ice. Neal was given a 5-minute major penalty and a game misconduct.
"I saw the hit several times on tape this morning," said Stars general manager Joe Nieuwendyk, who was not with the team on Thursday. "I think it's a situation where I kind of believe that Dorsett was in the wrong spot at the wrong time. There was a train wreck coming and he got in the way of it. The play was coming up the boards, James was coming in and everything was meeing at a particular point. We'll live with the two-game suspension and move on."
Neal said Friday morning that he had a brief phone conversation with league officials to explain what happened.
"They asked about the hit, and I said what I thought and that was it," Neal said. "I didn't try to hurt anybody. I'm going in there fast and I had no intent to injure Dorsett. I was trying to hit the defenseman. I hope he's OK."
Neal will miss home games against New Jersey on Saturday and Carolina on Monday. Neal, in his second season, leads the Stars with 11 goals and 22 points. This is his first suspension.
Neal will forfeit $8,515.00 as part of his salary under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.
His absence could mean more ice time for Warren Peters, who was called up as an additional forward with Fabian Brunnstrom on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.
Peters, 27, had seven goals and four assists in 16 games for the AHL's Texas Stars before he was called up. He was a healthy scratch Thursday.
Richard Durrett covers the Stars for ESPNDallas.com. E-mail richard.durrett@espn3.com.
Stars awaiting decision on Neal
November 20, 2009, 12:49 PM
By: Richard Durrett
James Neal said he had a brief phone hearing with the NHL on Friday morning and is waiting to hear the league's verdict. Neal was whistled for boarding in the second period after hitting Derek Dorsett in the back, causing Dorsett's head to hit the glass. Dorsett appeared dazed and had to be helped off the ice. Neal was handed a 5-minute major penalty and a game misconduct. Columbus scored twice on that power play and ended up with a 4-1 win.
"They asked about the hit and I said what I thought and that was it," Neal said. "I didn't try to hurt anybody. I'm going in there fast and I had no intent to injure Dorsett. I was trying to hit the defenseman. I hope he's OK."
Thursday was the first time Neal was given a 5-minute major in his brief NHL career (he's in his second year) and he has never been suspended.
Should Neal face a suspension?
November 20, 2009, 8:59 AM
By: Richard Durrett
It was certainly scary to see Derek Dorsett's head hit the glass. And on the replay, it's clear he wasn't quite sure where he was for a bit of time. Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock said after the game that Dorsett will be evaluated.
The Stars' James Neal was called for boarding, handed a 5-minute major and was sent to the showers. All of that was the right thing to do by the officials.
But he'll have a hearing Friday morning to determine if a suspension is warranted. I don't think it is. It was a bad hit to the back of Dorsett, whose head then hit the glass. It sure doesn't look like Neal intended to harm Dorsett and Neal seemed genuinely worried about Dorsett after the game.
A few TSN folks discussed Neal and whether he should face a suspension. They think he should get a few games, and Mike Keenan thinks the league should suspend Neal for at least five games. Wow. I guess the league can't worry about whether Neal intended to harm him. He did hurt him, so maybe they'll decide that requires some sort of suspension because of that.
Should intent even matter when handed out suspensions? Neal has never even had a 5-minute major or a suspension in his short NHL career, so he doesn't have any "repeat offender" stuff to worry about.
What do you think?
Stars a fighting team? Not really
November 19, 2009, 11:48 PM
By: Richard Durrett
The Stars got into four fights in the first period and were caught killing off penalties. That's not the type of game this team can afford to play. While they've played much better the last few weeks on the penalty kill, much of that is because they don't take many penalties.
Jim Cowsert/US Presswire
Trevor Daley and the Stars played a physical first period against the Blue Jackets
On Thursday, they tried to match Columbus' physical play and stepped over the line too often. It forced them to kill off too many penalties, including a 5-minute major in the second period charged to
James Neal for boarding. I'm not saying the Stars don't have fighters. They do. Teams don't want to be mixing it up with
Steve Ott or
Krys Barch. But that's not the Stars' game.
This team can play with anyone in the league if they stay disciplined. And you can bet that the rest of the NHL coaching staffs saw this game and will try to get physical with the Stars. It's not that Dallas can't get physical themselves, but they have to do it in a smart way.
"They scored all of their goals on special teams," Stars coach Marc Crawford said. "They won that big battle in the game, and it was a game we certainly can't be proud of. We've talked an awful lot about what we want as a group and how we want to perform as a group and that certainly wasn't the way we want to perform."
Crawford said he didn't buy any theories about being tired or lacking energy. Every team has to play back-to-back games. The teams that can win those games or at least get points in both, move up in the standings. The Stars didn't do that on Thursday.
On Saturday, look for Dallas to play smarter and to stay away from too many fights that can cause a steady stream of players into the penalty box.
Columbus 4, Stars 1
November 19, 2009, 10:27 PM
By: Richard Durrett
The Stars got behind 2-0 in the first and things really didn't get much better. Click here to view a replay of Thursday's in-game chat. Lots of things to discuss. Here goes:
It was fight night, especially early in the game. Here was the card:
Trevor Daley vs. Derek Dorsett (this was probably a draw, maybe a slight edge to Daley)
Steve Ott vs. Jason Chimera (draw)
Krys Barch vs. Jared Boll (Barch wins based some nice jabs)
Rick Nash vs. Stephane Robidas (wasn't really a fight, but Nash got a punch in late. And he has a huge size advantage)
Wow. You could go 15 games without seeing four fights. Stars analyst Daryl Reaugh said these were the first fights at AAC this year. I can believe that.
Columbus silenced the crowd late in the first with a shorthanded goal with .3 seconds left in the first period. Mike Ribeiro tried to make a play, but lost the puck and Kristian Huselius made a nice move around Matt Niskanen. Huselius threw the puck in past Marty Turco to give Columbus a 2-0 lead.
Speaking of mistakes, James Neal got involved in the physical nature of the game and was called for boarding on Dorsett. It took Dorsett some time to get off the ice and Neal was handed a 5-minute major for the penalty and a game misconduct. The Stars were killing it off for about three minutes, but then Columbus found the net. Huselius scored at 10:23 of the period and 20 seconds later, Raffi Torres scored after the Stars couldn't get the puck cleared out of the defensive zone. That made it 4-0 halfway through the game.
Stars' penalty kill unit did not do the job on Thursday. In fairness, a 5-minute major is very difficult to kill off. That's especially true in the second period with the longer distance to go to your bench on changes. Still, three power play goals allowed and giving up a shorty won't cut it.
Marty Turco looked OK to me. He could have played Columbus' second goal better in the first period, but the other three power play goals weren't his fault. He did what he could. But it wasn't his best game, but he did make some pretty good saves. No, I don't think the Stars need to go to Auld more. He'll get his time, but Turco is the No. 1 goalie.
The Stars' forwards tried to regroup with Neal out of the game with the misconduct. That meant more time Toby Petersen, among others. Brenden Morrow played with Loui Eriksson and Brad Richards.
This team continues to play inconsistently this season. They looked great against Detroit on Wednesday, but didn't have that same crispness on Thursday. Part of that was the fact that it was the second game in as many nights. But on Thursday, Columbus fed more off the physical nature of the first period than the Stars. That surprised me.
Dallas is 3-3-3 at home. They have nine points at AAC. That was 24th in the NHL at home, by the way, before Thursday's game.
Stars face New Jersey at the AAC on Saturday.
Chatting with a Blue Jackets blogger
November 19, 2009, 1:50 PM
By: Richard Durrett
Mike MacLean, from JacketsCannon.com answered some Columbus questions for us:
Q: Give us an overall scouting report on the Blue Jackets. This is the first time these two teams have seen each other this year.
A: The Jackets are second in the Central Division with an 11-6-2 record. They play an aggressive forechecking style up front, and the defense is solid, yet unspectacular. They have decent special teams and when Steve Mason is focused, he's world-class. He has struggled so far this season however, and he's looking to right the ship tonight.
Q: How does the fan base feel about Ken Hitchcock? Stars fans always liked the coach (he won a Stanley Cup, after all).
A: In terms of how the fans feel about Ken Hitchcock- I feel the Nikita Filatov situation that took place this week had an adverse affect on their perception of Hitch. Some blame Hitch for not giving Filatov enough icetime, and many were going back to the age-old argument that Hitch doesn't work well with young players. This doesn't speak for every Jacket fan- I think most (including myself) understand that he is a very good coach with a fantastic pedigree. He's the brains on the Team Canada staff, and that says a lot for Hitch.
Q: It looks like another impressive season for Rick Nash. What makes that guy such a good player that ends up on the scoresheet almost every night?
A: Rick Nash is the total package. He's got size, skill and of course hockey sense. His ability to read a defense is out of this world. He can get the first step on a defenseman, then turn on the jets and use his size to bull his way to the net. Then his hands do the rest. He's great on the PK because of his anticipation. He's a master of intercepting the cross-point pass.
Q: How are the Blue Jackets' special teams. Looks like the power play is pretty good, but the penalty kill struggles.
A: The Jackets were dead last in the NHL on the PP last season, so to have the level of success they are enjoying on the PP this season is fantastic. A big reason for it is the addition of Anton Stralman, a right-handed shooting blueliner with offensive flair. Changes to the structure of the PP have worked wonders as well. In terms of the PK, the Jackets were always good on the kill, but this season that seems to not be the case. The loss of Manny Malhotra and Mike Peca had an impact, but I'm confident that the bad PK numbers are an abberation and that it will improve throughout the season.
Q: Which goalie with the Stars see on Thursday -- Steve Mason or Mathieu Garon? Tell us about them.
A: Steve Mason will start tonight. As I mentioned earlier, he has struggled thus far, his last start he was lit up for 8 goals in a 9-1 loss to Detroit. He doesn't seem focused at times, and is giving up goals that were an automatic save for him last season. As for Garon, he is one of the main reasons the Jackets have the record they do, given how bad they have played at times. Both goalies are right handed catchers, which makes it tough on the guys in practice.
Q: Which players should Stars fans keep an eye on?
A: Stars fans can of course keep their eye on Nash, but also look for the duo of Derick Brassard and Jake Voracek. They are both extremely talented and hard working players, and they can make magic on the ice together. Stralman on the back end is fun to watch.
Q: What is the injury update for the Blue Jackets?
A: Mike Commodore, who was out working on his conditioning, should return tonight. Ditto for Raffi Torres, who was out with a mouth injury. He took a puck to the face and it shattered his upper jaw. That leaves Fredrik Modin and Andrew Murray on the IR.
Q: Anything else Stars fans should know about Columbus?
A: Columbus is a hungry team, they know that they need to keep the pace with Chicago because Detroit and Nashville are both suddenly hot, and are breathing down their necks. They must clean up the defensive zone, which has been the achilles heel for the team thus far. Mason needs to rebound in a big way. That said, the Jackets have some very talented forwards, who hustle, bang the body, and have the ability to create offense.
Brunnstrom placed on IR with shoulder injury
November 19, 2009, 11:06 AM
By: Richard Durrett
Dallas Stars left wing Fabian Brunnstrom, who suffered a shoulder injury when he was hit by a teammate in practice, has been placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.
The IR assignment is retroactive to Nov. 7. Brunnstrom has missed three games since he was hit by defenseman Stephane Robidas in practice. While Brunnstrom has practiced with the team, he has not been cleared for contact yet.
By putting Brunnstrom on IR, the Stars can call up Warren Peters to give them some more forward depth. Peters, who was playing for the Texas Stars, the Stars' AHL affiliate, had seven goals and four assists in 16 games.
Brunnstrom, 24, has played in 17 games for the Stars this season and has one goal and six assists. He's missed the last three games.
The Stars face the Blue Jackets at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at American Airlines Center.
Did the officials mess up?
November 19, 2009, 8:20 AM
By: Richard Durrett
I think it's clear they did. Brad May should have received a goal in the third period that would have tied the game at 2. Mike Babcock was not pleased about it.
It wasn't blown dead," Babcock said in a Detroit Free Press story . "That was a goal. I know what the league said, it's not reviewable, but ... the guy never meant to blow the whistle. It was a shot. It was in on the shot. It's just dumb as I've ever seen. But the bottom line is they were better than us for longer than us."
The call wasn't overturned in Toronto by replay officials, which still baffles me.
May's thoughts: "It makes no sense to me. I think it's a joke. It's a 2-2 game. It's a different outcome for us. Frankly, I'm not happy."
I can't blame either of them. But Babcock's point that the Stars played better for longer is exactly right. Dallas was the better team, so maybe the hockey gods took that into account.
What did you think of the call?
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