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The NHL Cycle: First Half Awards, Best of the Weekend

January 10, 2011   Christopher Botta   No comments

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Every Monday morning Adam Gretz and Chris Botta recap the week in the greatest hockey league in the world. We call it the NHL Cycle.

HALF-SEASON AWARDS

MVP: Sidney Crosby — He’s out with a concussion for at least a week, but nobody was better in the first half of the 2010-11 season. Nobody was particularly close.

Top Defenseman: Dustin Byfuglien – Making the transition to full-time blue-liner, he’s the league’s No. 13 scorer among all players. Byfuglien cannot have a dropoff if the Thrashers are to qualify for the playoffs.

 

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Sidney Crosby Fights Matt Niskanen

November 03, 2010   Adam Gretz   No comments

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Probably not the start the Penguins were looking for this season. Or expecting. They’re basically a .500 team, their starting goaltender has played so poorly that he’s losing playing time to Brent Johnson, their best defensive forward and penalty killer, Jordan Staal, suffered a broken hand just as he was set to make his season debut, and the power play, even with all of its individual talent has been … well, bad.

Naturally, there’s bound to be some frustration in there, and with the team trailing 4-1 during the second period in Dallas on Wednesday night, the Penguins decided to take out some of their aggression on the Stars. Included in the pugilism: captain Sidney Crosby who threw down with Stars defenseman Matt Niskanen.

Here’s the video…

Dallas 5, Pittsburgh 2: Recap | Box Score | NHL Scoreboard

 

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Botta’s NHL Notebook: Richards Contract in Dallas, McGuire on 5 Breakouts

October 14, 2010   Christopher Botta   No comments

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Brad Richards says, “There’s been some discussion” with management regarding his future with the Dallas Stars, but no one should expect an announcement of a new contract anytime soon.

“It’s really out of my control,” Richards told NHL FanHouse. “There’s so much uncertainty right now. If you don’t know who you’re going to be playing for, there’s little point in worrying about it.”

The No. 1 center, of course, is referring to the unstable ownership situation in Dallas. Owner Tom Hicks has the team up for sale and on a budget, of which Richards has a salary cap hit of $7.8 million on the final year of his contract. Even in February, Richards’ number would be difficult for a contending, cap-crunched team to absorb, and he has a complete no-move clause in his contract. This could explain why the 30-year-old Richards, who tied a career-high last season with 91 points, finds it easy to talk only of the Stars.

 

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James Neal, Matt Niskanen Agree To Terms With Dallas Stars

September 16, 2010   Adam Gretz   No comments

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Just a day before the team was set to open training camp, the Dallas Stars made sure all of their players were under contract by agreeing to two-year deals with forward James Neal and defenseman Matt Niskanen. Neal is clearly the big one, as he is one of the clubs best young forwards and a building block going forward. His contract will pay him approximately $2.875 million per year according to the team’s official Twitter page.

With an unsettled situation in net (oft-injured Kari Lehtonen is the starter, while his backup could be either Brent Krahn or Andrew Raycroft) and a middle-of-the-pack defense, the Stars are going to need big seasons from their young — and deep — group of forwards, including Neal, Jamie Benn and Loui Eriksson, to carry them through the season.

The 23-year-old Neal has played two full seasons with the Stars, never scoring fewer than 24 goals. He’s coming off a 2009-10 campaign that saw him tally 27 while skating mostly on a line with Eriksson and Brad Richards. His goal total was good enough for second on the team, trailing only the 29 scored by Eriksson.

 

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2010-11 Dallas Stars Preview: Time for Kari Lehtonen to Shine

September 08, 2010   Adam Gretz   No comments

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There are quite a few things that remain unsettled for the Dallas Stars heading into the 2009-10 season, both on the ice (goaltending and defense) and off of it (ownership). On the ice, one of the biggest questions that must be answered is how (and for how long) Kari Lehtonen will be able hold up as the team’s No. 1 goaltender.

For the first time since 1996-97, somebody other than Ed Belfour or Marty Turco will start the majority of the games in net for the Stars, and Lehtonen, the oft-injured, former No. 2 overall pick is the man that’s penciled in to be the guy. And while Turco’s play had declined a bit in recent years, that’s a lot of uncertainty in a position that’s been relatively stable for the better part of the past 13 seasons.

But what’s the biggest concern with Lehtonen? His performance, or his inability to stay on the ice?

 

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Jonathan Cheechoo: From 50-Goal Scorer to Tryout Contract

September 05, 2010   Adam Gretz   No comments

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Five years ago Jonathan Cheechoo led the NHL with 56 goals as a member of the San Jose Sharks. Injuries have helped to derail his career in the years since, as he’s seen his production fall off in a stunningly consistent decline, going from 56 goals to 37, to 23, to 12 and all the way down to the five he tallied in 61 games with the Ottawa Senators last season.

Seemingly unable to find a guaranteed roster spot elsewhere in the NHL, Cheechoo accepted a tryout contract with the Dallas Stars on Saturday, in what appears to be one more shot for the 29-year-old forward.

He’s still one of just 89 different players in the history of the league that have ever scored 50 or more goals in a single NHL season, which obviously puts him in some select company. Even if that one season was an outlier from the rest of his career.

 

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Fight of the Week: Welcome Back

March 05, 2010   Bruce Ciskie   No comments

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Every Friday, FanHouse sifts through the rubble and picks the best NHL fight, with the help of HockeyFights.com.

The league’s return from a two-week break couldn’t come at a better time. We were missing the fights!

We don’t have much to choose from this week, since there weren’t any NHL games until Monday, but we still found a doozy to lead the way. There were also dueling beatdowns in Dallas to talk about, but a couple of veteran punchers got together to take the top spot this week.

 

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