Hundred Degree Hockey

Two Future Texas Stars Start Memorial Cup Battle Tonight

2013-05-17T15:46:00.002-05:00

Current Star Matt Fraser had six points in five Memorial Cup games in 2010-11. (Credit: Steven Christy)

While the current Texas Stars may have bowed out of the playoffs last night in OKC, some future Texas Stars are getting ready for the annual battle for the Memorial Cup, starting this weekend in Saskatoon.

For those unfamiliar, the Memorial Cup pits the winner of each of the three Canadian major junior leagues and the host city's club against each other after the playoffs are over for each league. This year, the Saskatoon Blades lost in the first round of the WHL playoffs but earned a berth due to hosting the tournament. The other competitors are the WHL's Portland Winterhawks, the OHL's London Knights, and the QMJHL's Halifax Mooseheads.

For Stars' fans, the two players to watch are forward Taylor Peters of the WHL's Portland Winterhawks and right wing Matej Stransky of the WHL's Saskatoon Blades.

Taylor Peters is in his final, over age season in the WHL and was undrafted in the NHL. He was signed to an entry level contract by Dallas in early March. While he was in Portland, the club won three Western Conference championships and finally broke through to will the Chynoweth Cup this year. He is expected to join the Texas Stars next season.

Matej Stransky was drafted by the Stars in the sixth round of the 2011 draft, 165th overall. He picked up a lot of buzz after scoring 39-42-81 in 70 games last year for the Blades. He followed that up with 40-45-85 in 72 games this season. While his club got knocked out in the first round of the WHL playoffs, you can't count them out. The home crowd and two months to rest those injuries and practice all help the cause. Last year, the Shawnigan Cataracts hosted and won the tournament.

Games may be difficult to watch in the States until the finals. The game schedule for the tournament can be found here.

After Disappointing Round 2 Exit, Thoughts on What Went Wrong

2013-05-17T10:26:00.002-05:00

Handshakes of the disappointing variety last night in OKC. (Credit: Steven Christy)

Less than twelve hours after the Stars ended their 2013 Calder Cup run in Oklahoma City, it's still a little difficult to process what happened. With so much promise in the regular season and the top seed going into the playoffs, the season is over in a flash. It wasn't a series of close, grinding games like the Milwaukee series either; Texas was outscored 16-4 in the Barons' barn.

There are a few thoughts that spring to mind immediately and certainly more will come as the next few days give me time to mentally go through the regular and postseason.

The Barons' best players were their best players. I wrote about it in last night's game recap, but the Barons had phenomenal efforts from Yann Danis, Mark Arcobello, Toni Rajala and more. They also picked up solid performances from guys you might not have expected, like Taylor Fedun and CJ Stretch.
Texas's best players were not their best players. Matt Fraser didn't have a point in the series and had the egregious turnover in OT of Game 1 to give the Barons the win. Alex Chiasson's only point came on the inconsequential lone goal last night. He struggled with the unexplained transition to center and was minus-8 in the series. The Stars' leading scorer in round 1, Kevin Connauton, had a single assist and was minus-8 in the series as well.
Line shuffling last night was very confusing. Travis Morin, all-time points leader for Texas and all-time assists leader, was moved to the wing to be centered by Toby Petersen. Colton Sceviour dropped to the third line to center Glennie and Reilly Smith. Glennie had been doing well in the defensive center role in the series. While he hadn't recorded any points, coming into last night's game he was one of Texas's few plus players in the series. Also, Sceviour hasn't played center in months. It's not like you forget, but it's not the best time to make a shift and play with new linemates.
There were warning signs of this possible end. After the trade deadline, Texas was going great guns but then dropped back-to-back games against Hamilton and OKC, both in the last minute of the game. At the time, it was mostly written off as troubling but, due to some of the lineup changes, excusable. The team beat San Antonio convincingly three times and split against Charlotte the next week, and it was mostly forgotten. Then the team backed into the postseason with losses against Houston and Rockford.

You can say what you will about resting starters or chemistry, but in the last month of the season, Texas only beat a playoff team once. They were 1-3 against playoff clubs in April and that one win was in OT. Most of their games were against non-playoff clubs, where they were a still-unimpressive 3-2.
Penalties weren't as bad as it looked on the surface if you're just looking at the numbers. Texas actually has the fewest PIMs in the playoffs, both overall and in terms of minors/game. However, the Stars allowed a power play goal in each of their games in OKC, going 10/13 on the kill overall. The penalties also seemed to come at the worst times, stopping momentum and handing it right to the Barons. There was a measure of frustration there clearly.

Now it's also time to start evaluating who will be back for next year, who's coming in from juniors and overseas, and many other future looking pieces of the puzzle, including who will be the Stars' ECHL affiliate. Stay tuned...

Texas Ends Season with 5-1 Game 5 Loss to Barons

2013-05-16T21:20:00.000-05:00

Teemu Hartikainen had the Barons' first goal. (Credit: Steven Christy)

After a fantastic regular season, culminating in a top seed in the playoffs, and a tough and grinding first round series win, the Texas Stars have bowed out of the 2013 Calder Cup playoffs at the hands of the Oklahoma City Barons. After leaving Texas with a split of their home games, the Stars dropped all three games at the Cox Convention Center to fall 4-1 in the series.

Coach Desjardins attempted to change his team's luck with a lineup shift. He scratched Luke Gazdic and Joe Morrow in favor of Taylor Vause and Tyler Sloan, respectively. Toby Petersen cetnered the first line, moving Morin to right wing. Colton Sceviour centered Scott Glennie and Reilly Smith while Brett Ritchie and Francis Wathier were wingers on a line centered by Vause. Full lineup changes are included at the bottom of this article, as always.

In the end, the Barons were just too much for Texas. Something in the matchup between these two teams just didn't click for the Stars. The Barons' best players were their best players in the series. Mark Arcobello, Toni Rajala and a few others outpowered the talent on the Stars' bench. Matt Fraser didn't have a point in the series. Alex Chiasson had a single point, the secondary assist on the night's final goal in Game 5. Reilly Smith, Justin Dowling, Travis Morin and Colton Sceviour were not big enough factors to overcome the Barons outstanding netminding and firepower.

The Barons started in the first period with the offensive onslaught. Teemu Hartikainen rang one off the post and it dribbled in with 2:39 left in the opening frame. Texas outshot the Barons 12-8 in the period but left the ice for the first intermission down 1-0 and looking a bit defeated.

OKC kept it up in the second period as an early chance by the Stars turned back against them and Mark Arcobello dropped a pass for Taylor Fedun. The young defenseman backhanded the puck past Nilstorp for the 2-0 lead.

The Barons continued with a two-on-one goal by two players who started the year in the ECHL. CJ Stretch finished off the pass from Toni Rajala for the 3-0 lead. Both played extremely well in the series.

Former Star Garrett Stafford got a power play goal to open the third period with Jordie Benn in the box for delay of game. The Barons' fourth goal of the night was assisted by Brendan Davidson. Mark Arcobello added another as the team rounded out their scoring at five total goals. It was Arcobello's ninth goal of the postseason.

The Stars put a single goal on the board to end their season as Justin Dowling put up a power play tally with under three minutes left in the third period. Reilly Smith and Alex Chiasson assisted.

Texas will return to Cedar Park in the next twenty-four hours. The team will begin dispersing for Canada, Minnesota, and all their other hometowns not long after.

Tonight's lines:
Fraser-Petersen-Morin
Hedden-Chiasson-Dowling
R. Smith-Sceviour-Glennie
Wathier-Vause-Ritchie

Gaunce-Connauton
Oleksiak-Benn
Fortunus-Sloan

Nilstorp

Injuries, scratches, and notes:
Morrow, Gazdic, Sonne, McKenzie, Klingberg, Wrenn, Jokipakka, Cameron, Faksa, Todd, Commodore (scratch)
Nemeth (injured)

Tonight's attendance was 2,094.

AHL Gamesheet - Texas at Oklahoma City - May 16 2013

Gameday Preview: Stars at Oklahoma City Barons, Game 5

2013-05-16T05:00:00.000-05:00

Texas Stars
43-22-5-6, 97 pts
#1 Western Conference

Oklahoma City Barons
40-25-2-9, 91 pts
#5 Western Conference

OKC leads 3-1

May 16th at 7:00 PM

Cox Convention Center, Oklahoma City, OK

It's down to this. Forty-three wins and ninety-seven points in the regular season. First seed in the West. Coach of the year. Plus-109 overall as a team. 235 goals. Tonight, none of that matters. Like that scene in "Rocky", Texas only has to do one thing: win.

It's beside the point that they also have to win on Monday and Tuesday now as well, because all that matters today is winning tonight, Thursday. If they don't, it's all for naught and the season will be quite a disappointment.

Coach Desjardins shuffled the lineup last night and it worked for a while. The first goal came with Justin Dowling out centering Reilly Smith and Brett Ritchie. Later, he shuffled power play lines, putting Petersen out with Ritchie and Hedden.

Texas just seemed to have the wind knocked out of them by the third goal. They were being outshot 12-1 halfawy through the third and were outshot 18-5 overall in the period, despite a power play and some 6-on-5 time.

Does Desjardins change up his lineup? Maybe. I don't think that Nilstorp sits. He has been a rock in the playoffs but is getting hung out to dry by his defensemen. Anything that Nilstorp has, he has. Anything that generates a rebound is fair game for a Barons' skater. Too many goals came off the rebound last night for Texas' defense to feel comfortable with the game.

What else can be said? Win or go home. It's that simple.

Stars injury/call up report:
Nemeth (injury)

Website: okcbarons.com
Blog (unofficial): NewsOK's Barons Hockey
Twitter: @OKCBaronsHockey

Stars Allow Five Goal Third Period, Lose 7-3 and Face Elimination

2013-05-15T21:35:00.000-05:00

Yann Danis stopped 26 of 29 shots tonight and kept his team in it until they could explode offensively late. (Credit: Steven Christy)

It's down to the last chance now as Texas led the game 3-2 in the second intermission and then gave up five goals in the third period to lose 7-3. Special teams dogged the team tonight in a different way as the Stars allowed two goals to Mark Arcobello as he departed the penalty box. Texas squandered two one-goal leads in the game and fell apart in the final six minutes of the third period, allowing the eventual game winner and then failing to capitalize on a must-score power play.

Cristopher Nilstorp got positively shelled by the Barons as he stopped 39 of 45 shots against him. Coach Desjardins started with the same lineup and then began shuffling his centermen madly throughout the second and third periods. One of Texas' goals came with one of those shuffled lines on the ice as Dowling centered Reilly Smith and Brett Ritchie.

Texas was lucky to get out of the first period with a scoreless tie. They yielded two power plays to the Barons, ultimately fruitless, and were outshot 16-10 in the frame.

CJ Stretch opened the scoring in the second minute of the second period. His five-hole tally was the third of the season from the third line winger who spent much of the season in ECHL.

Brett Ritchie evened up the score five minutes later off a nice pass from Reilly Smith. That line, which saw its centerman shuffle a few times on the night, had Dowling at center for that play, and he picked up the secondary assist.

After surviving the power play onslaught in the first, Texas got some power play luck of their own. The Barons were on the power play and took two successive penalties to put the Stars on the 4-on-3 power play. On that man advantage, Jordie Benn's point shot was tapped home by Colton Sceviour for the 2-1 lead.

The Stars didn't have that lead for long as Philippe Cornet had a heads-up play to find Mark Arcobello out of the penalty box, giving one of OKC's top scorers a clean breakaway on Nilstorp. The resulting goal was Arcobello's 7th of the playoffs and came just seven seconds after his penalty expired.

Before the period ended, Joe Morrow regained the Stars' one goal lead with a delayed penalty underway. Travis Morin dished over to Joe Morrow, who snuck down from the point to beat Danis for the 3-2 lead.

Texas would outshoot the Barons 14-12 in the middle frame and take their one goal lead to the second intermission.

Oklahoma City erased that lead early in the third. As a Stars' penalty ended, a long shot on Nilstorp from Ben Eager generated a juicy rebound, which Antti Tyrvainen put home for the three all tie.

As time wound down in regulation, the Stars fell apart. Taylor Fedun got the go-ahead goal through traffic with just over five minutes left in the period. Cristopher Nilstorp never saw it coming. Texas had a golden chance on the power play with four minutes left, only down by one. When they needed it most, they couldn't get it done. As Arcobello came out of the box, he generated a fifth goal for the Barons with a two-on-one with Cheechoo.

Texas gave it one last go, pulling Cristopher Nilstorp and giving up an empty net goal. To add insult to injury, Garrett Stafford scored a power play goals in the dying seconds of the third period to make it 7-3.

Game 5 is tomorrow night. Texas must win to save their season.

Tonight's lines:
Fraser-Morin-Sceviour
Hedden-Chiasson-Dowling
Ritchie-Glennie-R. Smith
Gazdic-Petersen-Wathier

Gaunce-Connauton
Oleksiak-Benn
Fortunus-Morrow

Nilstorp

Injuries, scratches, and notes:
Sonne, Vause, McKenzie, Klingberg, Sloan, Wrenn, Jokipakka, Cameron, Faksa, Todd, Commodore (scratch)
Nemeth (injured)

Tonight's attendance was 1,795.

AHL Gamesheet - Texas at Oklahoma City - May 15 2013

Gameday Preview: Stars at Oklahoma City Barons, Game 4

2013-05-15T05:00:00.000-05:00

Texas Stars
43-22-5-6, 97 pts
#1 Western Conference

Oklahoma City Barons
40-25-2-9, 91 pts
#5 Western Conference

OKC leads 2-1

May 15th at 7:00 PM

Cox Convention Center, Oklahoma City, OK

The Texas Stars are not where they want to be. They are down 2-1 in their series with the Barons and are looking at two more games in OKC ahead of them on consecutive nights. They came out strong but ultimately ended up short on Monday. What now?

If it wasn't obvious enough in Games 1 and 2, Game 3 made it very clear that Texas is lacking in offensive production compared to a team like OKC. They have high quality scorers but they are getting shutdown. After scoring two goals in the Milwaukee series, Matt Fraser has just five shots in three games and no points. Leading point scorer in the regular season Colton Sceviour is shooting a lot more (19 shots in three games) but only has an assist to show for it. Morin has six shots but no points. That line has to activate if the Stars want to advance.

Or maybe the Glennie line needs to activate. Will it still be 'his' line tonight though? Desjardins shifted Petersen in at the center spot between Ritchie and Smith in the third period Monday. That line has combined for a goal and an assist in the playoffs total. Smith had been averaging the best points pace in franchise history during the regular season. Is it time for a shakeup to change something in his game? It seems like he's getting chances but isn't getting finish. How do you fix that?

Finally on defense, does someone get switched out tonight? Jordie Benn had two bad penalties that led to OKC goals in the second period. He was on the ice for the Arcobello even-strength goal as well. Do you consider sitting him and bringing in Commodore to play opposite Oleksiak?

There are a lot of decisions for Desjardins to consider here.

OKC shouldn't see their attendance improve much as the Thunder host a home game tonight against the Grizzlies.

Stars injury/call up report:
Nemeth (injury)

Website: okcbarons.com
Blog (unofficial): NewsOK's Barons Hockey
Twitter: @OKCBaronsHockey

Around the League: ECHL, CHL Changes Expected; SPHL Plays Wild Card

2013-05-14T00:00:00.000-05:00

Antoine Roussel wails on Chris Bruton in the first period of the teams' December 8th matchup. (Credit: Josh Rasmussen/Texas Stars)

As the Texas Stars continue their series with the Barons and the AHL marches on in general, other leagues have already begun to shift and change around them. Here's the list of changes, both confirmed and unconfirmed so far.

The Vancouver-owned AHL franchise (formerly the Rivermen) will not operate in 2013-14, bringing the league down to 29 teams again.
The Peoria Civic Center will host hockey though as the Rivermen name will come with them to the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). That was an unexpected happening. Steelheads coach Brad Ralph coached in the SPHL before joining Idaho.
The Bloomington Blaze will join Peoria in the SPHL, abandoning the CHL. It is rumoured that other teams, such as Quad City could also bolt from the CHL to form an SPHL 'Midwest' conference or division. That makes sense given that...
The CHL's Allen Americans and Rapid City Rush are widely rumoured to be heading for the ECHL this offseason.

Alright. That puts the CHL at six teams that operated this year. They expect to add two more teams via expansion but it doesn't seem like the league is financially viable with even eight teams as spread out as they would be. Brampton and Arizona are going to be really in trouble in terms of their travel costs, living on the edge of the league's area with no one they could even bus to.

Here's a few other news items and notes:

The Third Intermission has been doing their final goodbyes. It's pretty gut-wrenching to think about shutting down a franchise. I can't fathom writing a goodbye post for this site and hope I never have to. [The Third Intermission]
More locally, the Pond Hockey Club of Austin has been making some progress on their ice surface near 183 and Mopac. GM Jerry Taylor expected to start building out the ice surface, but not laying ice, by last week. [Pond Hockey Club]
Former Stars goalie Matt Climie has re-signed with the Chicago Wolves on an AHL deal. He had several offers from European teams but stayed in Chicago due to his loyalty to the ownership there. [TheAHL.com]
Finally, if you didn't read Brandon Worley's scouting report from Game 1 of this series, you should. It's always good to read about the players we see on a nightly basis from someone with an outside perspective on the team. [Defending Big D]

Barons Whitewash Texas 4-0 for 2-1 Series Lead

2013-05-13T21:20:00.001-05:00

Yann Danis had everything Texas threw at him tonight in OKC. (Credit: Steven Christy/OKC Barons)

The power play was deadly for the Barons tonight as Oklahoma City scored one on the man advantage and another just as another expired to take the series lead 2-1 with a 4-0 victory tonight at the Cox Convention Center. It was the worst outing of the playoffs for Texas goaltender Cristopher Nilstorp, as he allowed three goals for the first time on the postseason.

Texas was not playing the same game they did last week in Cedar Park. The club looked tentative and didn't generate opportunities as well as they did in the previous games. Coach Desjardins began shuffling lines in the third period to no avail, rotating centers among the lines to attempt to generate offense.

Texas came out with a solid effort in the first period, getting the best chances of the early going. However, the Barons outshot the Stars 11-8 as the first period ended with a scoreless tie.

OKC put two on the board in the second, both as good as power play goals, though only one technically was. Toni Rajala scored first with a floater of a shot from the point that got through traffic in front. Texas had a solid penalty kill, including some shorthanded opportunities, but the goal came just after the penalty expired. Benn had just stepped onto the ice.

Jordie Benn took another penalty just a few minutes later, and Anton Lander cashed in to make it 2-0. His sniper shot was assisted by Hartikainen and Marincin.

The Stars continued their troubles in the third, allowing a goal from high-end scorer Mark Arcobello. It was an easy five-hole one-timer off the pass from Andrew Hotham. Texas squandered a four-minute high-sticking minor to Garrett Stafford, only generating a few chances.

OKC added an empty netter with 14 seconds left to make it 4-0. Game 4 is on Wednesday in Oklahoma City.

Tonight's lines:
Fraser-Morin-Sceviour
Hedden-Chiasson-Dowling
Ritchie-Glennie-R. Smith
Gazdic-Petersen-Wathier

Fortunus-Morrow
Gaunce-Connauton
Oleksiak-Benn

Nilstorp

Injuries, scratches, and notes:
Sonne, Vause, McKenzie, Klingberg, Sloan, Wrenn, Jokipakka, Cameron, Faksa, Todd, Commodore (scratch)
Nemeth (injured)

Tonight's attendance was 1,794. It was the smallest crowd Texas has ever played for.

AHL Gamesheet - Texas at Oklahoma City - May 13 2013

Gameday Preview: Stars at Oklahoma City Barons, Game 3

2013-05-13T05:00:00.000-05:00

Texas Stars
43-22-5-6, 97 pts
#1 Western Conference

Oklahoma City Barons
40-25-2-9, 91 pts
#5 Western Conference

Series tied 1-1

May 13th at 7:00 PM

Cox Convention Center, Oklahoma City, OK

It's not ideal to split at home, but Texas know that the situation could have been far worse. In what was supposed to be a more wide-open series, the Barons came to play Texas Stars hockey and have seen both games end with 2-1 score lines.

Shot totals and score lines like we've seen in the first two games put a huge premium on goaltending. Cristopher Nilstorp is currently the top goalie in the AHL playoffs. He has a 1.13 GAA and .957 SV%. Only three other tenders have more minutes played than he does in the playoffs and all of those saw their first round series go to five games. Texas took care of business in four.

One of those goaltenders is the opposing netminder in this series, Yann Danis. After allowing just three goals across just over 120 minutes of work in games 1 and 2, it's no doubt that his first series was something of an aberration. OKC coach Todd Nelson had the Barons hunker down for this series and they are playing a very tight game.

That being said, the risk still exists that this club could go on a tear. The best power play in the league is not going to come up empty too many more times before scoring. The Stars have to limit their penalties. They got lucky to clear the 5-on-3 late in the first off the board. They got lucky again in the second when Scott Glennie's boarding call (marginal though it was) was counterbalanced by Josh Green's unsportsmanlike conduct minor. That could have put the Stars on another 5-on-3. This is not a PP you want to load up.

As a side note, Texas coach Willie Desjardins acknowledges that the power play is not working the way he would like it to. Top ranked during the year, the man advantage has been a tough spot for the Stars. They are scoring at times, as they did last night, but Desjardins feels more can be done to make the power play a difference maker in the series.

Texas can lean a bit on the fact that they had the league's best road record this season. It would be perhaps a bit too optimistic to think that the Stars take all three in OKC. However, I think they have a good chance to take two and then come back to the CPC on May 20 with a chance to close out the series. Though all that is quite a ways off still.

Stars injury/call up report:
Nemeth (injury)

Website: okcbarons.com
Blog (unofficial): NewsOK's Barons Hockey
Twitter: @OKCBaronsHockey

Allen and Idaho: Happiness and Heartbreak

2013-05-12T00:47:00.000-05:00

CenturyLink Arena in Boise (Credit: Idaho Steelheads)

Last night as the Texas Stars celebrated their Game 2 win over the OKC Barons, their two farm clubs, the Idaho Steelheads and Allen Americans, both ended their seasons in drastically different ways. Allen won the CHL championship in Game 7 overtime while the Idaho Steelheads were eliminated form the ECHL playoffs in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semis.

There has been a closer connection to the Idaho Steelheads this season for the Stars' as Justin Dowling, Austin Smith, Gord Baldwin and many others who factored into Texas's lineup spent time there. Many felt that the team overachieved to get to where it was. First year head coach Brad Ralph lacked a full off-season to recruit and had the rug pulled out from under him in many ways when the NHL lockout ended. Injuries and callups plagued the lineup through the season. Somehow they kept winning.

Josh Robinson and Tyler Beskorowany were a big part of that success and it will be interesting to see what their futures will hold in the organization. The eyeball test says that they will probably be divergent paths.

Stockton goalie Olivier Roy really ended the Steelheads' season as Idaho outchanced the Thunder but couldn't outscore them. The number of almost, maybe shots from Smith, Gron, Schaber and Fyten that were snuffed out by Roy was just too much to believe. He's in the running for the playoff MVP for sure.

The Americans take the typical championship shot. (Credit: Chip Crail/CHL Photos)

On the other side of the coin, Allen had a come from behind effort to win their first league championship in their four year history. After losing in the final their first year, this was only their second trip back. It took seven games and then some, but the Americans turned an 0-2 deficit after two periods into a 3-2 OT win tonight in the Metroplex.

From a Texas Stars' fans perspective, you cannot look at these two teams in a vacuum. There are a lot of rumblings, almost deafening now, that Allen is not long for the CHL and may make the jump to the ECHL. It doesn't take too long for the consequences of such a move to get complicated from the Texas Stars' perspective...

Over the next few days, we are sure to hear from both John Mulhern, our Steelheads correspondent, and Brandon Cox, a friend of the site who has covered the Americans for several years.

Also expect that the Stars could have some black ace callups from the Steelheads.

Texas Evens Series with Tight 2-1 Win Over OKC

2013-05-11T23:13:00.000-05:00

Mike Hedden celebrates his first period goal (Credit: Christina Shapiro/Texas Stars)

After a deflating loss on Thursday, the Texas Stars got back to playing their game with a 2-1 win tonight in Cedar Park to even the series at one a piece.

"Thursday we were puck watching," said forward Alex Chiasson. "[Tonight] it was our tempo, our game. It was a solid team effort."

"I thought we battled harder tonight than [Thursday]," added Coach Desjardins.

The Stars led 2-0 up until the final two minutes of the third as it took a 6-on-5 effort to penetrate the Stars' defenses and get one past Cristopher Nilstorp.

"We limited their chances to perimeter shots," said defenseman Joe Morrow, who scored the game winner. "They make D men pay a price. They hit hard, and they hit often."

Even with this game having the same score as the last, it seemed that there was even less time and space for both teams tonight. Plays were getting broken up and there wasn't a lot of room to move out there.

"Every inch you can take is one you'll need," said Chiasson. "These 2-1 games are tight games."

Cristopher Nilstorp was phenomenal again, especially during Oklahoma City's four power plays. He stopped 27 of 28 on the night.

The Stars jumped out to the lead late in the first period. Justin Dowling put a relentless forecheck on the Barons' defense, forcing a turnover.

"We try to establish a forecheck, but their D are great with the puck," said Coach Desjardins. "[Dowling] made a great play to jump up."

Dowling slid the puck to Jamie Oleksiak at the right point and the ensuing Oleksiak shot was tipped past Danis by Mike Hedden for the 1-0 lead.

Texas got into penalty trouble as the period ended and had to kill a 5-on-3, which they did successfully.

"[The kill] gave us a lot of momentum," added Morrow.

Morrow would pot his first pro playoff goal in the second period on the power play.

"I came off the bench and had a little bit of speed coming into the zone. I got a nice pass [from Connauton], and it was a great screen by Chiasson."

He continued, "Coach is always telling me to shoot the puck so I shot the puck. It was definitely one of the 'seeing-eye' shots."

That seeing-eye shot found the top right corner for the 2-0 lead after forty minutes.

The Barons came to play in the third period but still could not solve Nilstorp until the pulled Danis for the extra skater. Mark Arcobello scored his fifth of the playoffs with 1:55 left to put every Stars' fan in attendance on the edge of their seat.

The game ended rather anticlimactically as Jonathan Cheechoo took an interference call and forced the faceoff to his own zone with six seconds left.

With this effort, Texas moves the series to Oklahoma City where they must play at least three games over the next week.

"We came out strong and played a full sixty," said Morrow. "We do play well on the road so we're looking forward to the next few games."

Game 3 is on Monday.

Tonight's lines:
Fraser-Morin-Sceviour
Hedden-Chiasson-Dowling
Ritchie-Glennie-R. Smith
Gazdic-Petersen-Wathier

Fortunus-Morrow
Gaunce-Connauton
Oleksiak-Benn

Nilstorp

Injuries, scratches, and notes:
Sonne, Vause, McKenzie, Klingberg, Sloan, Wrenn, Jokipakka, Cameron, Faksa, Todd, Commodore (scratch)
Nemeth (injured)

Tonight's attendance was 4,683.

AHL Gamesheet - Texas v. Oklahoma City - May 11 2013

Gameday Preview: Stars v. Oklahoma City Barons, Game 2

2013-05-11T05:00:00.000-05:00

Texas Stars
43-22-5-6, 97 pts
#1 Western Conference

Oklahoma City Barons
40-25-2-9, 91 pts
#5 Western Conference

OKC leads 1-0

May 11th at 7:30 PM

Cedar Park Center, Cedar Park, TX

This would be a good time for a rebound performance from the Stars.

"You have to be [desperate]," said Coach Desjardins, referring to the desperation the team drew on in the first series to win their home games. "You don't want to leave here down two and then go into their building where you have to play three."

Two defensive errors left Texas on the wrong end of the scoring on Thursday night in Cedar Park. The 'unforced' play by Fortunus that led to the first goal was just a strange fluke play where the puck came off the glass oddly. That was thanks to the stanchions on the left wing side only being 6 inches apart, the only place in the arena where that is the case. Wathier said postgame he'd not seen a play like that in the CPC before.

The other defensive issue was preventable. Matt Fraser, dogged for his defense all last season, has done much better this season. There is no question that he understands what he did in overtime cost the club the game. Expect a doubling down of his efforts in all aspect of the game tonight. Texas has to hope that the misplay motivates him to perform. If Fraser is clicking, that's all the better.

It was mentioned in Brandon's thoughts on the game at Defending Big D, but it bears mentioning on this site that Brett Sonne is not Travis Morin. Morin is an extremely effective puck moving center and that top line is not the same without him. If he can't go, Sonne looks to stay in but at what cost to the offensive punch of the line? Of course, who do you replace him with?

"Bottom line: it's going ot be a tough game on Saturday," said Desjardins. "It won't be an easier than it was today."

Scheduling conflicts make this a weird 24 hours at the CPC. The Killers concert last night and University of Phoenix graduation this morning means no morning skate for either team. It also moves the start of the game back 30 minutes to 7:30.

Coach Desjardins is not worried about the lack of premium morning skate ice time, "I think the games are where the premium is right now."

Stars injury/call up report:
Nemeth (injury)
Morin (questionable)

Website: okcbarons.com
Blog (unofficial): NewsOK's Barons Hockey
Twitter: @OKCBaronsHockey

So How 'Bout Those Allen Americans?

2013-05-10T15:34:00.000-05:00

(Credit: Josh Rasmussen/Texas Stars)

I've got to admit it. I've got a bit of apologizing to do.

The Allen American have a chance tonight to win the Ray Miron Cup as the CHL's league champion tonight, and I don't think that I've really written all that much about the team this season.

If you've been tracking the Stars' season though, you might understand why. After using the Americans sparingly but consistently through their first three seasons, the Texas Stars have not sent a single prospect to the CHL this season, instead preferring to use the ECHL's Idaho Steelheads. In fact, the Aeros used the Americans more consistently through the year, to the point that Houston is listed as an official affiliate of Allen on their website. As a result, I haven't been tracking their progress through the season quite as closely.

But apparently, it's gotten good.

After earning a very, let's say, 'San Jose Sharks'-like reputation in their first few seasons, Allen is one win away from the Cup. In their first season, they also went to the finals, as did Texas and Idaho. All three teams lost, including Allen by a 4-2 series score to the Rapid City Rush.

Follow Game 6 tonight on Twitter or listen or watch if you can. This could be the franchise's crowning achievement before the uncertain of another summer could cause the franchise to leave the CHL for good.

Texas Drops Game 1 on Defensive Errors 2-1 in OT

2013-05-09T22:53:00.000-05:00

Alex Chiasson (Credit: Josh Rasmussen)

After leading the AHL in scoring in the first round, the OKC Barons managed only two goals against the Stars tonight at home. That was enough though as Anton Lander's OT tally downed Texas in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals.

"I thought there might be a little more open ice," said Coach Desjardins, commenting on the low score.

Both OKC goals came off defensive zone mistakes by the Stars, one a fluke and one preventable.

"It's going to be tight all series long," said Francis Wathier, who had Texas's only goal. "We have to respect their high skill players. One mistake in the D zone, and it lost us the game.

Just 88 seconds into the overtime, an extended defensive zone stay by the Stars cost the team the win as Matt Fraser attempted to clear the puck around the boards straight to Barons' forward.

"We have to be more determined," said Coach Desjardins. "The first game of the series may be one where you don't know what the other team is going to do."

Yann Danis earned first star honors with 34 saves on 35 shots. Cristopher Nilstorp stopped 24 of 26.

The Stars came out of the gate strong, racking up a 10-3 shot advantage before anything went in the net. Unfortunately for the home side, it was Barons finding the board. Maxime Fortunus attempted to clear the puck out, and it hit in the narrow double stanchions on the left wing of the home side. Philippe Cornet collected the puck and found Mark Arcobello out front for the 1-0 lead.

"We have to be tighter on the puck," said Wathier. "We can't give time and space to players like Arcobello."

That lead stuck after the full first period with shots at 11-5 for the home club.

In the second period, Texas had a chance to even things up in the 16th minute as Brett Sonne hacked and slashed the puck through Danis. However, the play was already blown dead as the puck rolled into the OKC net.

"I can't say if [the first shot] was a goal. We were hungry [on the puck] and you have to take that as a positive."

Just seven seconds later, Francis Wathier made up for the early whistle with his first of the playoffs. Just off the faceoff, Wathier rang one off the post and in.

"Any time you can score a big goal it's good," said Wathier. "Benn did a great pass and got low on the play. Our line has been successful creating those chances off the faceoff."

The pace picked up in the third period as both clubs played a bit of end-to-end hockey. Scott Glennie had the play of the period as Cristopher Nilstorp drifted out of the net on the initial save and left the net empty. Glennie went down to the butterfly and stopped the ensuing OKC shot to keep the game tied at one all.

With time ticking down, OKC had a good bit of pressure, earning the last six shots of the period, including one that just glanced off the post and out.

"We got lucky in the third period; they could have buried a couple," said Desjardins.

In the overtime period, Texas did not register a shot. Fraser's failed clear kept the Stars on defense and Anton Lander charged the net with the resulting turnover. His shot deflected off Kevin Connauton in front of a crowded crease and in under the crossbar. It was Texas's first home loss of the playoffs.

"You have to get more shots from the middle," said Desjardins. "We had some good chances that didn't go. We have to get more from our power play."

Tonight's lines:
Fraser-Sonne-Sceviour
Hedden-Chiasson-Dowling
Ritchie-Glennie-R. Smith
Gazdic-Petersen-Wathier

Fortunus-Morrow
Gaunce-Connauton
Oleksiak-Benn

Nilstorp

Injuries, scratches, and notes:
Vause, McKenzie, Klingberg, Sloan, Wrenn, Jokipakka, Cameron, Faksa, Todd, Commodore (scratch)
Nemeth, Morin (injured)

Tonight's attendance was 2,840.

AHL Gamesheet - Texas v. Oklahoma City - May 9 2013

Gameday Preview: Stars v. Oklahoma City Barons, Game 1

2013-05-09T05:00:00.000-05:00

Texas Stars
43-22-5-6, 97 pts
#1 Western Conference

Oklahoma City Barons
40-25-2-9, 91 pts
#5 Western Conference

Series tied 0-0

May 9th at 7:30 PM

Cedar Park Center, Cedar Park, TX

Texas enters the second round for just the second time in their franchise history. In their first season, the second round saw them take on a thrilling seven game series against the Chicago Wolves, which ended with this fun bit of nostalgia.

The Barons are also entering their second ever second round series. They defeated San Antonio last year en route to the Western Conference finals and a loss to the Toronto Marlies.

These two teams are quite familiar with each other, playing 12 games this season and 32 overall since the Barons joined the league.

“Because we play them a lot every year, it can get real chippy,” Barons' forward Teemu Hartikainen told NewsOK.com in an interview this week.

That familiarity is there both on the ice and off, as Matt Fraser reminded us last weekend. His comment that the teams would be familiar with the hotels, among other things, is a reminder that the desire to be comfortable in your environment is definitely important. It's uncertain which team that favors more. Overall, Texas had a superior road record (25-9-3-1) to the Barons (18-14-0-6). However, the home play for Texas (18-13-2-5) wasn't as hot as OKC (22-11-2-3).

In the same interview, head coach Todd Nelson went on to compliment the Stars overall play.

"[Texas is] the No. 1 seed for a reason. They have all the parts. They have great goaltending. Their defensemen are strong. Their forwards have skill and grit. They're a complete team. But we've been playing good hockey. It should be a great series."

I previewed many of those elements yesterday in this space if you'd like to read up some more.

Overall in the series, I think the Stars have some danger of losing one at home. They also could drop one on the road. Therefore, I think Texas will get the series win in six games, closing things out at home on May 20th.

Stars injury/call up report:
Nemeth (injury)
Morin (questionable)

Website: okcbarons.com
Blog (unofficial): NewsOK's Barons Hockey
Twitter: @OKCBaronsHockey

ECHL Playoffs: 'Thunder'-struck Twice in Idaho

2013-05-08T12:47:00.002-05:00

Chase Schaber screens Stockton goalie Olivier Roy in one of this weekend's games against the Thunder.

John Mulhern is back again to fill us in on the week in Steelheads' hockey...

Stunned silence. That is how the fans left Century Link Arena this past Sunday night. Oh sure I’m willing to bet there were a few utterances made under people’s breath, but for the most part all anyone could hear was the Stockton Thunder players and staff celebrating their overtime win to take a 2-0 lead after two games in the ECHL’s Western Conference Finals. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. At worse you figured the teams would split, but not with the Idaho Steelheads losing both of their home games to start the series.

In game one on Friday, the Steelheads came out fast and furious. They were creating pressure and they were able to pick up a lot of loose pucks to create great transition chances. The only thing stopping the Steelheads from having a 3-0 lead after the first period was some outstanding play from Olivier Roy who stopped all 13 shots faced in the period. Stockton did end up with 7 shots in the period, but most of that came on the power play as they had 2 chances in the first. Josh Robinson turned aside all of those shots as it was clear, at least in the first period, that Stockton would not get a lot of great chances.

In the second, Stockton would get on the board first as the Steelheads were under to clear the puck out of their zone, and when Andrew Clark found the puck on his stick he threw a blind backhand shot on net that beat Robinson to stake Stockton to a 1-0 lead just 4:01 into the second period. Despite another 13 shots, the Steelheads remained goalless after 40 minutes.

In the third period, David de Kastrozza would knot the game at 1 just 14 seconds into the third period when he was able to take a quick pass from the behind the net from Brett Robinson and fire past Roy for his 3rd goal of the playoffs. On this night de Kastrozza was clearly the best Steelhead on the ice. He played physically and with speed all night long. The Steelheads caught a huge break about 14 second later when it appeared that Stockton took the lead right back, and after the referee called it a goal, and a lengthy discussion including the goal judge, he overturned the initial call and waved off the goal. (There is no replay in the ECHL level. It wouldn’t have mattered anyways based on the direction the camera was facing it would have been inconclusive.)

The Thunder were not to be denied on this night. At the 13:18 mark of the period Maxime Boisclair would knock home a goal from about waist high to give Stockton a 2-1 lead. It was a shot that Robinson never really had a chance on as the puck came on a pass high through the slot area. A bit of 5 minutes later as the Steelheads were pushing for the equalizer, Ryan Hayes would drive the final nail into the coffin as he snapped home a clean shot from the top of the left wing circle to create a 3-1 score and give Stockton a 1-0 lead in the series.

Back at it on Sunday, head coach Brad Ralph kept the Idaho Steelheads line-up in-tact. Can’t blame him either as after a close game on Friday where the Stockton Thunder were just able to capitalize on a couple of defensive breakdowns to win game 1. In game two things started a little more tight checking. Neither team could really establish much in the first half of the period. A lot of stoppages early messed with the flow of the game. It wasn’t until the 14:24 mark of the period where once again Stockton jumped out to a 1-0 lead. It was once again Maxime Boisclair with the goal. The Steelheads would get a huge goal at the 19:18 mark of the period as Austin Smith got his 7th goal of the playoffs to tie the game at 1 as the teams headed for the locker rooms.

In the second, Stockton would only get 6 shots on net, but one of them found the back of the net as Matt Bergland notched his 6th of the playoffs to give Stockton a 2-1 lead at the 12:52 mark of the period. The Steelheads had 12 shots, but once again all were turned away by Olivier Roy.

The third period started with hope. Surely with 20 minutes to play the Steelheads would be able to get one goal and Josh Robinson would be able to turn away enough shots to allow the Steelheads to get the win. However, just 51 seconds into the 3rd period, the questions changed after the Thunder took a 3-1 lead when Ryan Hayes got a puck past Robinson. At this point the question that I had turned into more of a statement. The Steelheads would get the two goals to force overtime or they would lose in regulation. I just didn’t see a team capable of 3 goals in 19 minutes.

Adrian Foster would make it a 3-2 game as he was able to take a nice feed from Ben Ondrus, after Ondrus won a faceoff forward from the offensive right wing faceoff spot, split two men and slid a puck to a waiting Foster at the 6:48 mark of the period. The Steelheads would continue to push and just when you thought maybe there wouldn’t be enough left in the tank, Foster would strike again. This time on a rebound at the 14:17 mark to tie the game at 3. The teams would head to overtime with the same score.

Both the Steelheads (4-1) and the Thunder (4-0) have seen their share of overtimes this postseason. What I didn’t immediately know is that the Thunder are 11-0 in their past 11 OT playoff games and Olivier Roy is 7-0 himself.

When the overtime started, the Steelheads a couple of good chances to finish the game early as had been their trend during the playoffs, however, Roy was able to make saves and a little bit of puck luck had the Steelheads missing just high or just wide. After about 5 minutes of the overtime, the Thunder once again found their legs and did not let the Steelheads mount any chances against Roy the remainder of the game. At the 11:39 mark, Andrew Clark would bang home a rebound and gave the Thunder a 4-3 win as well as a commanding 2-0 series lead as the series now shifts to Stockton.

Notes:

The ECHL Conference Finals are the first games to ever use a 2 referee system at the ECHL level. There were only 3 penalties called in game 1 as the teams didn’t try a lot of “funny stuff”. In game 2 that number jumped up to 12, but not much more than what you would normally see in a one man system. It looks like it is working well and keeping things away from the play in check.

I would expect to see a goaltender change for the Steelheads in game 3 of the playoffs. I don’t think it is because Josh Robinson has played terrible in the first 2 games, but obviously something isn’t working in the defensive zone. With Tyler Beskorowany being a big of a bigger goaltender as well as a bit better at handling the puck, I think he’ll be able to assist the defensemen a bit and allow them a bit more time to get the puck out of the zone.

I also think a shuffling of the lines could be in order as well. There have been a couple of players (Austin Smith and Tyler Gron) that could use a bit of a kick in the pants to work a bit harder defensively, and possibly having different line mates might be able to accomplish that.

I don’t think all is lost for the Steelheads. Of course you don’t like to be down 2-0 in a best of seven especially when heading to the road, but I don’t think the Thunder have clearly outplayed the Steelheads through 2 games, and I expect the Steelheads to find another gear and apply some pressure. Of course it still remains to be seen in results on the ice, but hopefully the next article will be regarding a much needed Steelheads victory.

Idaho drops the puck on Game 3 tonight at 9:00 PM Central.

Previewing Round Two: Texas Stars Face High Scoring OKC Barons

2013-05-08T05:00:00.000-05:00

Jordie Benn scores on Yann Danis, who has a 10-2 all time record against Texas. (Credit: Texas Stars)

I've written up a full preview of the series with Oklahoma City on Defending Big D. I wanted to call attention my keys to the series here on 100 Degree Hockey, because I think the readers here can have a really great debate about whether you agree with me on them. What do you think of these?

Keys to the Series

I'm going to put on my TV analyst hat here and try to break down an incredibly complicated series with dozens of competing factors to a few key points. Because, you know, that's what it's all about.

Goalie Play

Cristopher Nilstorp was fantastic in the first round. In case you missed the stat I dropped earlier, he's got a 0.96 GAA and a .963 SV%. Those are video game numbers. Yann Danis has a 2.97 GAA and a .913 SV%. Now, that doesn't mean that he's going to be some pushover. Danis always plays Texas very well. In the the season series, he faced Texas seven times and sported a 6-1 record. The sticklers will point out that four of those wins came during the NHL lockout and therefore put their legitimacy into question. I would argue it doesn't matter. If you think you can't beat a goaltender, it can get to you, regardless of the truth of it. Danis, for the record, has only two losses against the Stars in his career. He's 10-2 lifetime.

For Texas though, Nilstorp has to help keep the Stars in these games against the potentially devastating Barons' offense.

Avoiding the 'Texas Relays'

For those not from Austin, Texas Relays are a yearly event at the University of Texas that brings thousands of people to the downtown area as they watch high school, college and university students participate in track events.

Much as many Austinites look to avoid downtown during that weekend (and SXSW and ACL and many others...), the Stars should look to avoid getting into a track meet with the Barons. It is extremely conducive to OKC's game to get into those situations. They can score a lot of goals, and it's not that Texas can't (3.06 goals for per game, 6th in the league). It's that the playoffs are a dangerous place to get into track meets. It is not the Texas Stars' game plan. They are a team based on defense, much like the Calder Cup finals year, but with extra scoring punch. That is their differentiating factor.

Rolling Four Lines (and Solid D-pairings too)

After mixing things up through the end of the season with Fraser, Chiasson and Benn in Dallas, some injuries in Texas and the general mayhem of adding players on PTOs, ATOs and recent draftees, things have settled. After the addition of those players from Dallas, Texas sported the following lineup for both games, minus Travis Morin for game four as he was out with an injury. He's expected back for Game 1.

Fraser-Morin-Sceviour
Hedden-Chiasson-Dowling
Ritchie-Glennie-R. Smith
Gazdic-Petersen-Wathier

Oleksiak-Benn
Gaunce-Connauton
Fortunus-Morrow

Coach Desjardins said that he likes to keep a steady lineup once he gets into the playoffs, and it looks like he's found it. In Desjardins' system, the play of the fourth line is just as critical to the teams' success as the play of the first. The teams' ability to roll four lines was a strength all year. It's what helped wear down the Admirals in their series as Milwaukee had to dress two defensemen as forwards in Game 4 to attempt to get a quality fourth line on the ice.

The good news for the quarterfinals is that the fourth line was very effective. While they didn't have any points in the series (barely any points were had by anyone), they were effective in moving the puck up the ice, keeping it out of their zone and getting the change for the first line without the puck ending up in their net. It's a thankless task some nights, but they did it well. (Sidenote: they did combine for 19 shots in the series, so it wasn't all dump and change)

Agree or disagree?

Texas Draws OKC Barons in Second Round

2013-05-05T01:16:00.001-05:00

Justin Dowling bears down for a faceoff against a Barons' centerman (Credit: Josh Rasmussen/Texas Stars)

After last night's game action, the second round is set in the West. Toronto will play Grand Rapids, and Texas will face off against the Oklahoma City Barons.

The Stars had a 4-7-0-1 record against the Barons this season. Games will start with home dates for Texas this weekend May 9th and 11th then shift to OKC for three.

Here's the schedule:

Game 1 – Thursday, May 9th – 7:30p at CPC
Game 2 – Saturday, May 11th – 7:30p at CPC
Game 3 – Monday, May 13th – 7:00p at OKC
Game 4 – Wednesday, May 15th – 7:00p at OKC
Game 5 ** – Thursday, May 16th – 7:00p at OKC
Game 6 ** – Monday, May 20th – 7:30p at CPC
Game 7 ** – Tuesday, May 21st – 7:30p at CPC

** - if necessary

In a bit of a curiousity, the Stars and Barons will not have the opportunity for morning skate on Saturday due to University of Phoenix graduation ceremonies taking place at the Cedar Park Center that morning.

Also interestingly, the Barons will not have a chance to host a weekend game in the series. That could work in Texas' favor as attendance has been weak in OKC even during the weekend games. There are certainly other advantages to being at home, but the crowd can't be dismissed. The Cox Convention Center holds 13,399 for hockey but only hosted 2,043 and 1,990 fans respsecitvely for Games 1 and 2 of their opening series against Charlotte.

Obviously we'll preview the series here more as the week goes on. The Stars will have a very different task on their hands from the first round. Milwaukee was a grind it out defensive club. The Barons are not, with the average margin of victory for either team in their first round games being four goals.

Scoreboard Watching: Stars' Next Opponent Will Be Decided Today

2013-05-04T12:41:00.000-05:00

Cristopher Nilstorp (Credit: Josh Rasmussen/Texas Stars)

The ice will be vacant tonight at the Cedar Park Center, much to the delight of fans, players, coaches and staff alike. However, elsewhere in the AHL, four clubs will go to battle for the right to join Texas and Toronto in the second round of the playoffs.

Texas's second round matchup will be decided tonight. No matter what happens, the Stars will play a South Division opponent. If Houston wins, they will play the Aeros and enjoy a 2-2-1-1-1 series format. If not, they will play the winner of the Oklahoma City-Charlotte series. Both games will start tonight at 6 PM Central.

When asked if the South Division connection was an advantage, Coach Desjardins said he hadn't given any thought to the Stars' second round opponent last night after the win.

Stars forward Matt Fraser had a little more to add.

"When you hit playoffs it's a totally different season. You're familiar with the players and what they do. Things can change though. It's nice to be familiar with [the teams] and the hotels. When it comes down to it, you're going in there to win the series."

Fraser makes a good point. Just the familiarity with the surrounding and the routine of a trip to OKC or Houston or even Charlotte might help. Then again, that road goes both ways. OKC, Charlotte and Houston are all quite familiar with the Cedar Park Center.

As to records, Texas is 5-2-1 against Charlotte, 4-7-0-1 against OKC and 6-3-2-1 against the Aeros. Charlotte and Houston seem to be the desired battles based on that alone. OKC has an ability to break open a game in a way that could be deadly in the playoffs. The Checkers learned that last night in an 8-1 Barons romp in Charlotte. To be fair, Charlotte defeated OKC 6-1 earlier in the series, however.

Is Houston the best matchup? Looking at the Wild callups, the Aeros are starting Mike Condon in net because of the injury to Backstrom in Game 1 warmups for the Blackhawks-Wild series. Condon has 7 AHL games to his name but a 4-1 record. Additionally, the Wild took Marco Scandella and Carson McMillan.

If you're thinking that makes them an easy target, think again. The fact they made it out of the first round in this scenario makes them dangerous. Also, don't forget that the Wild are down 0-2 in their series against the Blackhawks. If things go downhill from there, Zucker, Kuemper, Scandella and McMillan could all be joining the Aeros' playoff race on Wednesday morning. That's just in time to play in Game 1 on May 9th in Cedar Park.

So which team do you want to see in round two?

Stars Sink Ads 2-1 to Move on to Round Two

2013-05-03T23:29:00.000-05:00

Handshake line... (Credit: Josh Rasmussen/Texas Stars)

After four years and three trips to the playoffs, the Texas Stars had to wait until tonight for the chance to close out a series on home ice. They took care of business, beating the Admirals 2-1 to advance to the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs tonight. The tight series saw just twelve goals scored total between the two teams in four games.

The Stars were complimentary of the Ads' game all series. They respected the game that Milwaukee brought every night and didn't look past the Ads because they were the eighth seed.

"They're a good team and were rolling coming into the postseason," said Kevin Connauton postgame. "They're a hard working team that likes to break you down, get pucks deep and forecheck. It was a matter of being discplined with our systems. We had all the tools to beat them."

One of the big pieces of that toolbox was Connauton himself, who has four points in four games so far in the playoffs. His assist tonight was the primary on the game-winning goal off the stick of Alex Chiasson.

"All the series was close," added Coach Desjardins. "Every game was close. If you go to a fifth game, anything can happen."

Texas came in with a "do-or-die mentality", according to Connauton, not wanting to take the chance in that deciding fifth game on Saturday.

Cristopher Nilstorp was spectacular again, allowing the only goal of the game on a defensive breakdown early in the third. He pushed aside 34 of 35 shots on the night and had some dazzling efforts in the third as the Admirals shelled the net with 18 shots.

After waiting 47 minutes for a goal on Wednesday, fans didn't have to wait for long tonight. Ten minutes in, Matt Fraser put a centering feed from Colton Sceviour between the pads of Magnus Hellberg for the 1-0 lead. It was his second of the playoffs. Brett Sonne had the second assist, his first point in his first game of these playoffs.

"The whole series we wanted that first goal to get control," said Fraser.

"You want to be the team to get the first one and get them on their heels," added Connauton. "We were focusing on that big start."

Texas pushed even harder in the second and got rewarded early with Alex Chiasson's second of the playoffs. A strong effort by the Dowling-Hedden-Chiasson line to keep the puck in for an extended period put the puck on the stick of Kevin Connauton at the left point. His shot was tipped home by Chiasson in the slot for the 2-0 lead.

"It was good to get the lead," said Desjardins. "[But] we knew they'd come hard in the third."

Facing elimination, the Ads turned up the heat on the Stars. Just 100 seconds into the third, Kevin Henderson potted his only goal of the playoffs as Texas was unable to get the puck out and Henderson pounced on a rebound.

"We had a bit of a breakdown [on the goal]," commented Desjardins.

The rest of the way it was edge-of-your-seat action. The Stars killed a Glennie holding minor and then held on through the rest of the period, including a minute and a half of 6-on-5 hockey to end it.

The Stars do not know who they will play in the second round yet. Possibilities are all South Division opponents, however. If Houston wins their series, Texas will play the Aeros. If not, they will play the winner of the OKC-Charlotte series. Both series will be decided Saturday night.

Texas will be hosting one of those three teams with Games 1 and 2 to fall Thursday, May 9th and Saturday, May 11th.

Tonight's lines:
Fraser-Sonne-Sceviour
Hedden-Chiasson-Dowling
Ritchie-Glennie-R. Smith
Gazdic-Petersen-Wathier

Fortunus-Morrow
Gaunce-Connauton
Oleksiak-Benn

Nilstorp

Injuries, scratches, and notes:
Vause, McKenzie, Klingberg, Sloan, Wrenn, Jokipakka, Cameron, Faksa, Todd, Commodore (scratch)
Nemeth, Morin (injured)

Morin was out in tonight's game after taking a puck to the face in Game 3. He is expected to be back for Game 1. Sonne came in for him. Desjardins on Sonne: "Sonne played really well. It's hard to go from not playing to the first line. He played well and was solid."

Tonight's attendance was 5,493.

AHL Gamesheet - Texas v. Milwaukee - May 3 2013

ECHL Playoffs: Previewing Idaho v. Stockton Series

2013-05-03T10:48:00.000-05:00

(Credit: Idaho Steelheads)

John Mulhern previews the Western Conference Finals...

The Idaho Steelheads have advanced to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since the 2009-10 season when they also met the Stockton Thunder. The Steelheads defeated the Thunder 4 games to 2 that year to advance to the Kelly Cup Finals.

The Stockton Thunder defeated the Alaska Aces 4 games to 2 to advance to the Conference Finals. Over the course of the playoffs, the Thunder have come from behind to win 7 of their 8 games this playoff season.

The Steelheads went 2-3 against the Thunder during the regular season. They were 1-0 at home and 1-3 on the road. What is interesting to note is that the Steelheads have only played one game against the Thunder at home this season. In two of the 3 Steelheads losses, the Reign came back to win after allowing the first goal of the game.

I think this series will tip based on special teams and goaltending. The Steelheads have much better goaltending and power play numbers. Also, the scoring is more spread out for the Steelheads which should give them an advantage 5 on 5. If the Stockton Thunder have any advantage, it’s that the Steelheads at times this year have jumped out to leads only to take their foot off the gas and allow their opponent to get back into games. The Thunder have shown that they are a team that will require 60 minutes (or more) of work each time they take the ice.

Top Playoff Performances:
Stockton: 14 players registered at least one goal
Ryan Hayes — 5g, 11a, 16pts
Andrew Clark — 4-10-14
Harrison Reed — 6-6-12
Shawn Weller — 6-3-9 [Ed. Note: Former Star Shawn Weller]

Ryan Constant (D) — 1-5-6 (EVEN)
Shawn Boutin (D) — 2-3-5 (plus-7)
Tony DeHart (D) — 0-3-3 (plus-5)

Olivier Roy, 13GP, 8-5, 2.95 GAA, .899 SV%

Idaho: 13 Players registered at least on goal
Tyler Gron — 7-5-12
Adrian Foster — 3-8-11
Austin Smith — 6-3-9
Austin Fyten — 4-5-9
Chase Schaber — 2-7-9

Matt Case (D) — 1-8-9 (plus-2)
Jace Coyle (D) — 0-6-6 (EVEN)
Patrick Cullity (D) — 2-2-4 (plus-4)

Josh Robinson, 8GP, 4-2-1, 2.59 GAA, .920 SV%
Tyler Beskorowany, 6GP, 4-1, 2.63 GAA, .907 SV%

Power Play:
Stockton is 4 of 51 good for 7.8%
Idaho is 6 of 42 good for 14.3 %

Penalty Kill:
Stockton is 43 of 51 good for 84.3%
Idaho is 38 of 46 good for 82.6%

Gameday Preview: Stars v. Milwaukee, Game 4

2013-05-03T05:00:00.000-05:00

Texas Stars
43-22-5-6, 97 pts
#1 Western Conference

Milwaukee Admirals
41-28-4-3, 89 pts
#8 Western Conference

Stars lead 2-1

May 3rd at 7:30 PM

Cedar Park Center, Cedar Park, TX

After a thrilling Game 3, Texas looks to close out the best of five series with a Game 4 win tonight in Cedar Park. If the series were to end tonight, it would be the first time Texas has finished a series on home ice.

True to form, the Stars played 47 minutes of scoreless hockey on Wednesday and the first goal ended up being the game winner. Colton Sceviour said in the pre-playoff media day that Texas had to be prepared for those sorts of games and the last two have been no disappointment in that regard.

The Stars did well to keep an even keel and play whistle to whistle on the Ads on Wednesday. It worked to their advantage as Henderson took a late penalty after checking Kevin Connauton after the whistle. That power play led to the insurance goal and sealed the night up with a bow.

Milwaukee has its back to the wall with tonight's game and things could get physical. Even Magnus Hellberg was in on the action in a limited way in Game 3, having a perpetual need to have contact with any Texas skater that drove by his crease.

Texas needs to stay out of the box to be successful. Couldn't hurt to goad Milwaukee into some trips to the sin bin as well. (Credit: Josh Rasmussen/Texas Stars)

I wouldn't expect lines to change. The play from all four lines was outstanding in the last game. Texas should feel confident with that as rolling four lines all game was a key strength of theirs through the season. It helped to grind down opponents in low scoring games, which is exactly what is needed here.

The fourth line was very good with Wathier showing 2010 form with his energy and a near shorthanded goal (visions of Neuvirth). Gazdic added energy to the lineup and even had a few solid shots on net. The fans certainly approved, as they rained 'Luuuuke' calls down upon him from his first shift.

Speaking of the fans, the atmosphere in the CPC did not sound like only 4600+ after Chiasson's goal in the third. The extremely loud crowd should only get larger with the Friday night game. Texas hopes to give them something to cheer for and a handshake line to watch tonight.

Stars injury/call up report:
Nemeth (injury)

Admirals Web Resources:
Website: milwaukeeadmirals.com
Blog (Official): In The Crease
Blog (Unofficial): Admirals Roundtable (@adsroundtable)
Twitter: @mkeadmirals

ECHL Playoffs: Idaho Advances to Western Conference Final

2013-05-02T10:12:00.002-05:00

John Ryder (Credit: Idaho Steelheads)

John Mulhern on the triumphant Steelheads...

The Idaho Steelheads defeated the Ontario Reign 5-3 on Tuesday night to advance to the Western Conference Finals. The Steelheads won the series four games to two to advance and will face the Stockton Thunder, who defeated the Alaska Aces four games to two as well. It will be a re-match of the 2010 Western Conference Finals where the Steelheads defeated the Thunder 4-2.

Let’s look back at Tuesday night’s game first.

The Steelheads knew that the Reign, feeling the desperation that comes with a 'win or go home' scenario, would come out with their hair on fire and try to take to the game to the visiting Steelheads. That’s exactly what happened as the Reign were credited with 13 shots on goal to only four for the Steelheads in the first. The Reign also jumped out to an early lead as 3:36 into the first, Kyle Kraemer would get his first goal in seven games to make it a 1-0 Reign. For the next 10 minutes, the Steelheads would hang on and weather the storm. Josh Robinson would turn aside all shots until David de Kastrozza got his second goal of the playoff season to tie the game at 1 at the 12:18 mark of the period.

That would start a bit of a scoring flourish. After the Steelheads tied the game, the Reign came right back just 2 minutes and 15 seconds later to take a 2-1 lead. This time is was Everett Sheen with the goal. Once again though the Reign could not hold onto a lead. This time it was a power play goal as Brett Robinson would tie the game 54 seconds after the Reign took the lead. No more scoring in the period would lead to a 2-2 tie after one period.

The second period was all Idaho as Justin Taylor and Austin Fyten would score the only two goals of the period to extend the Steelheads lead to 4-2 after two periods of play. The Reign continued to apply pressure as they outshot the Steelheads once again 11-6.

In the third period, the Steelheads seemed to have control of the play and despite the Reign getting some of their better chances of the series, Josh Robinson continued to turn away all shots until former Steelhead Jake Hauswirth beat Robinson with a shot from the high slot to make it a 4-3 with 6:05 left in the game. As time was winding down the Steelheads drew a penalty on Brady Calla with 2:38 left in the game. Where normal convention would think it would be a mere formality that the Steelheads would be able to just run clock for 2 minutes, the Reign upped the pressure even more and generated a few chances as well down a man late in the game.

The Reign appeared to have tied the game up late, however referee JM McNulty waved it off for having lost sight of the puck and blowing his whistle before the puck rolled over the goal line. Moments later Brett Robinson would pick up a loose puck right before it crossed the Reign goal line for icing and deposited it in the empty net to give the Steelheads a 5-3 and the victory.

It was a hard fought series and you could point to a variety of reasons why the Steelheads were able to advance, but for me it is awfully hard to look past the addition of Patrick Cullity back into the Steelheads line-up. His arrival for game three still saw the Steelheads lose, but the number of chances the Reign would get dropped considerably and allowed the Steelheads offense to find their groove and get a few bounces to take three straight games to close out the series.

A whole new challenge awaits the Steelheads in the Stockton Thunder. The Thunder have come from behind to win seven of their eight games en route to advancing to the Conference Finals. More on that to come later this week.

Nilstorp, Chiasson Push Milwaukee to Brink with 2-0 Win

2013-05-01T23:22:00.001-05:00

Alex Chiasson in tonight's game (Credit: Josh Rasmussen/Texas Stars)

The Texas Stars pushed the Milwaukee Admirals to the brink of elimination in their best of five series after winning tonight 2-0 at the Cedar Park Center. The first playoff game in Cedar Park since 2011 saw Cristopher Nilstorp's first AHL playoff shutout and Alex Chiasson's first pro playoff goal, the eventual game winner. The two teams totaled 52 shots in the game; Nilstorp stopped all 21 from the Ads.

"There wasn't a lot of room out there," said Coach Desjardins. "Milwaukee played a great game, and we just got a couple of breaks. They're so hard to create on. There were a few flurries [of shots] in the game, but otherwise it was tight."

Chiasson, who scored six goals in seven NHL games to end the season in Dallas, was reinserted in his usual spot with Mike Hedden and Justin Dowling. The line's chemistry was undeniable from the first shift. Chiasson's goal came in his first game back from injury after a collision with Niklas Hjalmarsson of the Blackhawks.

"[Chiasson] hasn't played for a while," added Desjardins. "It was a really tough game for him to come back and play. It's a sign of maturity. He prepared himself and battled."

Kevin Connauton added a power play insurance goal to set the final score at 2-0.

The two teams came out of the gate playing some extremely quick end-to-end hockey. The pace slowed down to the more expected defensive game as the first wore on. Despite the track meet start, the period ended with no score.

The second unfolded in a little bit more plodding of a fashion. Shots were 7-4 for Milwaukee after Texas outshot the Ads 15-6 in the first. The teams traded chances on the power play, but Texas's #2 ranked power play had some trouble creating.

It all came down to the third period for the two clubs. Chiasson's goal came as he bumped Chris Mueller off the puck and passed to Dowling. Dowling sent the puck back to Chiasson, who tipped it past Hellberg for the 1-0 lead.

"You want to be that player, the guy who steps up. There's a lot of guys here who can do that. I'm glad to be back here and helping the team win."

Shortly afterwards, Kevin Henderson took an extremely undisciplined penalty, checking Kevin Connauton after an icing touchup.

"If you want to win, you have to stay out of the box," said Desjardins. "It's an emotional game. There's a lot going on, but we have to stay out of the box and we know that. The guys are committed to doing that."

Texas went to the power play, their fourth of the night. Connauton, who drew the penalty, ended up cashing in. From the point, his shot found twine to make it 2-0. Joe Morrow and Reilly Smith collected the assists.

Milwaukee would pull Hellberg with two minutes remaining in the game. Texas twice had chances at the empty net from 200 feet away but just missed. In the end, Nilstorp stood tall to earn the goose egg by a 2-0 mark.

Friday's game is a potential series clincher for the Stars. If so, it would be the first series decided on the Cedar Park Center ice in franchise history.

Tonight's lines:
Fraser-Morin-Sceviour
Hedden-Chiasson-Dowling
Ritchie-Glennie-R. Smith
Gazdic-Petersen-Wathier

Fortunus-Morrow
Gaunce-Connauton
Oleksiak-Benn

Nilstorp

Injuries, scratches, and notes:
Vause, McKenzie, Klingberg, Sloan, Wrenn, Jokipakka, Sonne, Cameron, Faksa, Todd, Commodore (scratch)
Nemeth (injured)

Glennie was inserted between Smith and Ritchie, creating a very 'top six' looking third line. Coach Desjardins thought Glennie's play with "really strong". It looks like that line will stay together.

Travis Morin was in and out of the lines tonight. Petersen and R. Smith cycled in. No word on any injury that might be affect the Stars' all-time leading scorer.

Tonight's attendance was 4,656.

AHL Gamesheet - Texas v. Milwaukee - May 1 2013

Gameday Preview: Stars v. Milwaukee Admirals, Game 3

2013-05-01T05:00:00.000-05:00

Texas Stars
43-22-5-6, 97 pts
#1 Western Conference

Milwaukee Admirals
41-28-4-3, 89 pts
#8 Western Conference

Series tied 1-1

May 1st at 7:30 PM

Cedar Park Center, Cedar Park, TX

Texas clears the slate of callups tonight and has a heck of a lot to juggle on the lineups with three new additions. Milwaukee is similarly 'disadvantaged' with six new bodies in the lineup. Unfortunately, those six made up 63 of Milwaukee’s 197 regular season goals.

As the numbers show, the Stars have not had a lot of success recently on the home front. The Stars haven't won in Cedar Park since a victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins on March 30th. The entire month of April was winless for Texas at home. Meanwhile, Milwaukee hasn't lost on the road since April 2nd. Their next most recent road loss before that? February 26th. Something has got to give for Texas to win this series.

It looks like the lineups for tonight will feature a top nine that looks more like a top six. Here are the first three lines as seen in practice this week:

Fraser-Morin-Sceviour
Hedden-Dowling-Chiasson
R. Smith-Glennie/Vause-Ritchie

I would add on Gazdic-Petersen-Wathier to that combination. That leaves your scratches as Sonne, McKenzie, Cameron, Faksa, Todd and either Glennie or Vause.

On defense, Jordie Benn has to be in. There was a lot of success in the early season with Oleksiak and Benn together. Connauton and Gaunce were a good pair since the trade deadline, and Fortunus and Morrow have had some pairings together since then as well. That gives:

Benn-Oleksiak
Fortunus-Morrow
Connauton-Gaunce

Scratches: Sloan, Wrenn, Jokipakka, Commodore, Klingberg, Nemeth (injury).

It seems about right.

Also adding to the pressure tonight will be Jim Nill's visit to the Cedar Park Center. Former Texas Stars Brenden Dillon and Antoine Roussel won't be among those making a sojourn to Central Texas though as both leave today to represent their countries in the World Championships.

Stars injury/call up report:
Nemeth (injury)

Admirals Web Resources:
Website: milwaukeeadmirals.com
Blog (Official): In The Crease
Blog (Unofficial): Admirals Roundtable (@adsroundtable)
Twitter: @mkeadmirals