DALLAS — This may have been the low point of the Dallas Stars season. While they’ve had longer losing streaks this season, the back-to-back losses to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Los Angeles Kings sandwiched around the All-Star break were no-shows. On Tuesday the Kings were bigger, better, and most importantly, actually looked like they […]
MORNING SKATE: Jason Dickinson on the cusp of full-time NHL duty
DALLAS — Martin Hanzal’s ongoing injury issues have opened a window of opportunity for Jason Dickinson. And Dallas Stars head coach Ken Hitchcock is going to give Dickinson every chance to jump through that window, starting with Tuesday’s game against the Florida Panthers. Dickinson is going to center a line between Devin Shore and Brett […]
Playing at a more consistent level, Esa Lindell has helped John Klingberg thrive
FRISCO, Texas — John Klingberg is finally getting recognized on a league-wide scale. He leads all defensemen with 46 points, and only three forwards have more assists than the 40 that Klingberg has dished out this season. Klingberg is headed to his first NHL All-Star Game later this week, and while he may not win […]
Making sense of #FreeHonka, the re-born Honka Wars, and Ken Hitchcock
The “Honka Wars” are far from over. They started around the middle of 2017, at some point in July, as each side dug its heels in for a Twitter war of attrition. Julius Honka, then a 21-year-old defenseman, was the center of the controversy that really boiled down to a simple question, “Is Julius Honka […]
Overturned goal puzzles Hitchcock, but Stars battle back for a point in Columbus
COLUMBUS, Ohio — It was good hockey play. A hard drive to the net, creating a chance, and crashing for a rebound. It’s the type of play you practice all the time, and want your players to execute. That was Ken Hitchcock’s view of an overturned goal that would have tied the game at 1-1 […]
Reminder: You can’t play the puck with a foot in the penalty box
DALLAS — You can’t play the puck if you have a foot in the penalty box. Seems simple enough, right? Wrong. For the third time this season a player was given a penalty for interference at American Airlines Center for playing the puck while they still had at least one foot in the box. Each […]