The Fifth Liners

Ever since Brett Hull's controversial goal to win the 1999 Stanley Cup against the Buffalo Sabres, fans in Texas have had a very up and down ride supporting the Dallas Stars ! But this season has held an even bigger shock, a rebuilt team that looks like it has the potential to shape into something special! Last years performance was neither glorious nor disastrous as Dallas came home 11th in the Western Conference and 5th in the Pacific Division, but their season was disrupted by the trade of Captain Brenden Morrow to Pittsburgh and Jaromir Jagr to Boston which deprived the team of their two biggest scorers and ensured they limped home to the finish! Tired with the lack of progress, former Stars hall of famer Joe Nieuwendyk was given the boot as GM and replaced by Jim Nill. But the off season however gave this team a major shot in the arm as Canadian National Team coach Lindy Ruff took control and offensively a well played out trade got many critics interested in this team as T...

At 41 years old, NHL great Jaromir Jagr shows no signs of slowing down and his selection in the Czech Republic Olympic team just demonstrates his versatility and after leading his side to the gold medal in the 1998 Nagano Olympics, you can count chickens that he will be one leading stars in this tournament proving that age comes before beauty! Recently while playing for New Jersey, Jagr has now surpassed Steve Yzerman to go seventh overall in the all time goals scored within incredible an 687, his plus his 1391 NHL games played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, New York Rangers, Dallas Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins and recently New Jersey Devils make him the face of modern experience ! At this rate it wouldn't be a shock to see him included in 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, Korea! Here is tribute to the great man!

Former NHL forward Jason Arnott has called time on a glorious 18 year career that has taken in the Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, Washington Capitals to most notably the New Jersey Devils. He last played for St Louis in 2011/12, but has not played since. He did sign a contract with the New York Rangers in January this year but was not cleared by the team doctors. Since being drafted 7th overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, he has gone on to record 417 goals and 938 points in 1,244 career games. The highlight of his career was a Stanley Cup win in 2000 with the Devils where he score d the championship clinching goal in game 6 against Dallas! Upon announcing his retirement, Arnott said in a statement "I would like to thank everyone who helped me throughout my NHL career, including my family, friends, teammates and fans. Playing in the NHL was my dream and I am very proud and appreciative of the fact I was able to play at the highest level for 19 years wit...

The Anaheim Ducks are enjoying a great start to their 20th anniversary year and last night they extended their winning streak to seven game after a 6-3 win over the Dallas Stars at the Honda Center! Fan favourite Teemu Selanne coolly slotted the Ducks in front on a powerplay after only 2.38 of the 1st period, but then the Stars rallied with Ryan Garbutt getting them started when he hammered his shot past Jonas Hiller to make the scores 1-1 and then Brenden Dillon's shot from the point swerved into the net to push Dallas ahead after 14.38 played and finally Shawn Horcoff capped an impressive fight back for the Stars when he redirected a shot to put Dallas 3-1 up! But Anaheim had no intention of letting their fans down and Corey Perry pushed them back into contention only 54 seconds into the second period and then made the scores 3-3 with a tip in from a long range shot off Cam Fowler after 11.48. Emerson Etem then bundled in a short handed goal to finally give the home side t...

The Dallas Stars produced a great performance last night to edge the San Jose Sharks 4-3 at the American Airlines Arena and in doing so they bring an end to the Sharks 100% start to the season! But at the start most of the home fans thought it would be business as usual for visiting San Jose as Tyler Kennedy put them in front after only 9 seconds of the first period! Dallas goalie Dan Ellis helped stem the flow of goals with a couple of smart stops before Tyler Seguin tied the scores at 1-1 after 16.44 played. But then Matthew Nieto siezed on a breakaway chance and slotted home to push the Sharks 2-1 ahead after 17.52 of the period! Stars didnt have to wait long for the tying goal though as after only 1.53 of the second period, Trevor Daley scored past Niemi to make it 2-2! But then Mr Consistent Patrick Marleau again put San Jose in front after scoring a wrap around chance on 12.32, though he was made to wait until after a video replay confirmed the puck crossed the line! But Dal...

Dallas Stars fans can now put a face to the new owner of the C emblem next season as Jamie Benn has officially been named as team captain for next season. After the departure of former skipper Brendan Morrow and Jaromir Jagr last season, the forward will have the hopes of the franchise resting on him for next season. The 24 year old led the Stars in scoring last year with 33 points and since been drafted 129 th overall in 2007, he has made his mark at the American Airlines Arena and so far has chalked up 82 goals and 193 points in 263 games. Upon his announcement, Benn informed the media "I'm deeply humbled and honoured to be named the captain of the Dallas Stars. I look forward to representing this organization, my teammates, our fans and this great city in our pursuit to bring another Stanley Cup to Dallas." Fellow forward Ray Whitney and defenseman Steve Robidas have been named as Alternate’s as Dallas seeks to rebuild on a season to forget last year....

Mike's question this week was "Which Teams do you predict will top each Conference- Will your predictions be affected by the Conference shake up?" (Special thanks to Mrs Laybourne for suggesting this). Well that it is an interesting question as this years realignment could have big effects on each teams performance- ok let's go to work Eastern Conference  At first glance you would say that the Pittsburgh Penguins will be the out and out favourites to top this conference due to their free scoring offense and this year this could well be the case- but their inclusion in the newly formed Metropolitan Division with team such as the New Jersey Devils , New York Rangers , Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers could well prove a hard affair as each team possesses a unique mix of strength and skill and as we saw last year in the playoffs, the Penguins struggled against the Boston Bruins in these conditions.  In the Atlantic Division, the Bruins could well be ...

Alex's question this week is: 'Dallas may have a cool new logo, but what do they need to make next year a success?' My default answer is always 'score more goals'. But that doesn't seem to be the Stars' problem. In the Western Conference last season, the Stars were unable to grab a playoff place. Finishing 11th in the conference. Annoyingly for Stars fans, if the playoff places were decided by goals for, the Stars would have finished seventh. As they outscored the Detroit Red Wings and the Minnesota Wild.  Jamie Benn, Ray Whitney, Jaromir Jagr and Loui Eriksson all scored in double figures, although goal leader Jagr is now plying his trade for the New Jersey Devils.  So what's the answer? Well, Tomas Kaberle is. Not just Kaberle but a few other defensemen too. The Stars finished the season having conceded 12 more goals than they'd scored.  Kaberle is now on the market as an unrestricted free agent and there's plenty more experienced skaters lo...

As Mike's previous two post pointed out, the NHL will be a very different place come the 2013-14 season with the Eastern and Western conference have undergone a dramatic re-alignment and now it has become far more simplied with the East sporting two separate divisions with the Atlantic and Metropolitan Divisions and the West also having two divisions with the Pacific and Central Division. With new leagues come new rivalrys are long gone are the days of the dull Southwestern Division and sadly Vancouver will not fight for a sixth straight Northwest Division. But what will the big match ups be? Let's take a look in more detail. Atlantic Division  This division promises plenty of thrills with the Detroit Red Wings , Boston Bruins , Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens doing battle for a playoff place- there is no love lost between Leafs and Habs fans and this fixture never fails to entertain. But the clash that will have everyone talking will be when the Ottawa Senators...

With the new schedules come the new divisions, instead of being three divisions in each conference, there's now only two. With the changes will come new rivalries, which Alex will talk about later.  Let's start with the Western Conference. The Western has 14 teams while the Eastern currently has 16. This accommodates for the expansion in the west that the NHL has been looking for. Detroit and Columbus have moved over to the Eastern while Winnipeg makes the sensible move west.  Pacific Division Anaheim Ducks Calgary Flames Edmonton Oilers Los Angeles Kings Phoenix Coyotes San Jose Sharks Vancouver Canucks Dallas leaves the old Pacific Division, but three of the Canadian teams; Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary have joined it from the disbanded Northwest Division.  Central Division Chicago Blackhawks Colorado Avalanche Dallas Stars Minnesota Wild Nashville Predators St. Louis Blues Winnipeg Jets With Colom...

July 4th seems to been a one with plenty of fireworks in Massachussets as today it was announced that Tyler Seguin, the Boston Bruins number 2 pick of 2010 has been traded along with Rich Peverley and defensemen Ryan Button have been traded to the Dallas Stars for forward Loui Eriksson and three prospects Joseph Morrow , Reilly Smith and Matt Fraser . This trade my come to a surprise to many Bruins fans as Seguin has been highly rated during his time at the TD Garden and currently his career stats currently stand at 56 goals and 121 points in 203 career games. Though on reflection for a second overall pick his career has begun at a rather slow pace and during the playoffs he hit the back of the net only once, but recorded the second highest shot total with 70 shots! But for a flagging team like Dallas, this could well be a major score and at only 21 Seguin could well re-ignite this franchise which is in dire need of goals after a season to forget last year. Loui Erikkson coul...

The other day I was presented with a very interesting question from Mike regarding the coaching changes in the NHL, “With all the coaching changes going on the league right now; instead of hiring and firing the same group of coaches, is it time to bring in some new blood?”   The question here is an interesting one and with the latest groups of hiring and firing it does make us think whether newer and younger talents are required? Let’s analyse this in more detail, Alain Vigneault has recently been fired by the Vancouver Canucks , but as of a couple of days go it appears that he has now taken the vacant post at the New York Rangers while John Tortorella was fired the same post and now seems odds on favourite to take charge at the Rogers Arena! Why didn’t they just swap jobs in the first instance? Both coaches are proven winners and they both possess fairly excellent records, but I can tell you for a fact that neither is really the right choice for those clubs and ...

Reports were suggested last night that Alain Vigneault has apparently been confirmed as the new Head Coach of the New York Rangers on a five year deal worth $10 Million, although this has yet to be confirmed by Rangers Management.   Last Friday, Vigneault notified Dallas Stars , who had also been chasing his services that he had withdrawn from contention to coach the team. Previously as Head Coach of Vancouver, A.V guided the Canucks to their latest Stanley Cup final in 2011 where they lost to the Boston Bruins. In other news, former Rangers boss John Tortorella has according to the Vancouver Provence apparently been offered a second interview for the vacant coaching role with the Canucks but management has yet to confirm who else has been approached for the role! Go to NHL.com for a full report