CEDAR PARK, Texas — Justin Dowling, Nick Caamano, and Gemel Smith made a statement on Sunday in the Dallas Stars scrimmage at H-E-B Center.
Stars coach Ken Hitchcock split training camp into two groups on Day 3. In the morning the veterans — a group of players expected to make the NHL roster — practiced, while the scrimmage was reserved for younger players and those needing a breakthrough for NHL consideration.
(Julius Honka was the lone exception, he played in both the scrimmage and practiced with the veterans).
“We were surprised by some people that emerged,” HItchcock said. “It wasn’t that they just showed up today, they were good players, but then you want to see good players when the competition goes up and they were.”
Hitchcock said performances in the scrimmage adjusted the Stars plan for cuts, preseason games, and which players will work out with what group on Monday.
The forward trio of Dowling, Caamano, and Smith had the biggest impact on Hitchcock.
“For me Dowling really stepped up, Smith stepped up, Caamano stepped up,” Hitchcock said. “These guys put themselves back on the radar, it was nice to see.”
Dowling had a pair of goals and scored in the shootout, Caamano scored twice, and Smith had an assist while he worked well on a line with Dowling and Brian Flynn.
“It felt good,” Dowling said. “It was nice to finally get into a game situation. I think it took a couple shifts to get into it … I played with two really good players and it kind of made it easy.”
For Dowling the scrimmage could be the makings of a future NHL opportunity. While the numbers might not be in his favor coming out of training camp, a strong first impression on Hitchcock could go a long way when an injury call-up is required at some point.
Caamano isn’t going to play in the NHL this season, he’s likely going to return to the OHL and the Flint Firebirds later this week. However, the 19-year-old realizes this NHL training camp will be valuable to his future with the organization.
“Definitely while I’m here I want to make an impression,” Caamano said. “You never know when you’re going to get sent down from this, so you’ve got to take every day one day at a time and really compete here on the ice and show your skill set and why they picked you to come here.”
Here is the full scoring summary from the scrimmage:
1st
W 1-0 Dowling (Flynn)
G 1-1 Dries (Heatherington)
W 2-0 Dowling (Smith, Flynn)
G 2-2 Caamano (Bodnarchuck)
2nd
G 3-2 Caamano
G 4-2 Robertson (Hanna, Rallo)
3rd
G 5-2 Hintz (Gurianov)
Janmark feels good
For starters, Mattias Janmark’s health is still a mystery.
Even with successful surgery to repair his knee it still isn’t clear how the 24-year-old forward will look in an NHL game after missing all of the 2016-17 season thanks to Osteochondritis dissecans, a joint disorder where bone underneath the cartilage of a joint dies due to lack of blood flow.
How will the knee hold up in back-to-back games? How about after a big collision?
Unfortunately we won’t have a set answer until either of those things happen in a game.
We did, however, get a better look into Janmark’s current psyche and health Sunday.
“It’s good, it’s nice to get back. The knee feels good,” Janmark said. “That’s probably the best part of my body. It’s a grind coming back, some soreness in the body it feels good to be back there and I feel like I’m getting into it.”
While Janmark doesn’t have more exact answers, he said the doctors and medical staff are encouraged by his progress. Janmark said he has to earn his playing time, but he’s hopeful that he’ll be able to play every game this season.
Line combinations
The Stars gave us a glimpse of into potential lineups during the veterans practice on Sunday and used the following lines and defense pairs.
Jamie Benn — Tyler Seguin — Alexander Radulov
Mattias Janmark — Jason Spezza — Brett Ritchie
Antoine Roussel — Radek Faksa — Tyler Pitlick
Curtis McKenzie — Devin Shore — Adram Cracknell
Marc Methot — John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis — Greg Pateryn
Esa Lindell — Stephen Johns
Jamie Oleksiak — Patrik Nemeth
Julius Honka
Ben Bishop
Kari Lehtonen
Keep in mind that Martin Hanzal is injured and will eventually be part of this lineup. However some of the pairs and lines are good indicators of what Hitchcock will use this season.
Dallas also worked on the power play Sunday morning had the following groups:
PP1: Benn, Seguin, Radulov, Spezza, Klingberg
PP2: Janmark, Ritchie, Shore, Lindell, Honka
The power play did have similar elements to last season, including the drop pass, while there were some minor tweaks and more of an umbrella look from the first unit.
News and notes
— Honka would have taken part in the entire scrimmage, but NHL rules limit a player to three hours of on-ice training per day. That’s why Honka left the scrimmage in the middle of the second period. While he was in the scrimmage he dominated possession and Hitchock referred to the Finn as an elite puck handler.
— The goalies in the scrimmage played well, particularly in the shootout at the end. Philippe Desrosiers had a much stronger showing after struggling the first two days of camp. Landon Bow looked composed and more effective with his movements in net, while Mike McKenna made a couple nice saves early on penalty shots.
— Sheldon Dries has continued to impress after a nice showing in Traverse City. The AHL-contracted forward scored a goal and plays a smart, simple game that translates well to the AHL. Keep an eye on him as a player that could earn an NHL entry-level contract in the future.
— Dillon Heatherington had a nice showing in the scrimmage. With the Stars glut of defenders he’ll play in the AHL this season, but he could be primed for an injury call-up or potential NHL duty next season.
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