Dallas Stars once again overcame a 2-0 deficit in a 4-3 win over the Utah Mammoth at the American Airlines Center on Friday. They are 9-1-1 in their last 11 games.
Thanksgiving Stories from the Boys
Friday morning skiing was a special treat. Not only was everyone in a good mood as the Stars went 3-0-1 on a tough road trip out West, but it was also the morning after Thanksgiving and everyone had the day off.
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However, it wasn't a full day off for the Stars. The team chose to stay in Seattle after defeating the Kraken on Wednesday night rather than return home early Thursday morning. The plane landed around 15:00 local time and most of the guys headed straight home. When they arrived, most immediately walked into a house full of people and a table filled with turkey and other Thanksgiving items.
Jake Ettinger said he essentially walked in, put down his bag and sat down at the table to eat with his wife and her family. It was also his son's first Thanksgiving, and Ettinger was grateful to be able to spend it with his nearly four-week-old baby. He said he enjoyed every minute of it with his dad and received a lot of help while he was at the rink or on the road.
Colin Blackwell experienced the same thing as Ettinger: he walked into a house full of his wife's family and plenty of food. But he also brought a few friends with him.
Mavrik Bourque, Thomas Harley, Justin Hrikovian, Lian Bichsell, Wyatt Johnston and Kyle Capobianco joined the Blackwells for Thanksgiving. And as you can see, except for Harley, who wasn't on the trip, the boys are still in their travel sweatpants, straight off the plane.
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Bourke told me that he ate SO MUCH FOOD. I use caps because that's what he said, clutching his stomach and squatting down to show me how little he could move after dinner. When he returned home he had to take a walk because he was too full to sleep.
Ah, Canadians are learning to live like Americans, right?
One of the positive aspects of Dallas' time in Seattle was the reunion of two buddies and former teammates.
Ettinger took the time to travel to Mason Marchment's new location. Marchment was recently in town to play with the Stars, but this time Ettinger was able to spend some time with him, see his wife, with whom Jake and his wife have become close, and meet Mason's son for the first time.
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It's safe to say that this story has melted the hearts of Stars fans all around.
1999 in black again
Working with Craig Ludwig is very cool. For many reasons.
But what's remarkable about this week is that he was not only a part of, but also instrumental in, the only Stanley Cup championship in Dallas franchise history. Many remember and love Luds for his work on the ice and now his analysis off the ice.
Why is this in my head now? Well, because tonight marks the debut of the '99 Stars' new alternate jerseys. And they are so cute.
It was great to see Glen Gulutzan and the coaching staff in their new gear, with new signs above the players' stands that read “Nothing Else Matters,” the slogan of the 1999 Cup team. It was also really cool to see Oettinger's new uniform, which pays homage to arguably the best goalie to ever wear a Dallas jersey, Ed Belfour.
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Here's Belfur's setup:
But Ettinger… Lines and semicircles are visible on the balls of his feet:
And if you look closely, you can see a wonderful shiny green mask. On the side of this mask… is a screaming otter.
Yes, to pay homage to Eddie's famous and iconic Screaming Eagle mask.
Not only is it amazing to see, but it also brings back a lot of memories for fans. But it's really cool because Belfour was the reason I played goalie as a kid.
I used to either draw eagles on my mask or, when I was very little, wear a replica of Belfour's street hockey mask. Which, by the way, was far from legal and not protective enough for ice hockey.
We also had Belfour at our show at DLLS, so check it out if you missed it!
Belfour told me that he was abducted by aliens. So here it is.
And guess what? Gulutzan said that the team actually fed get rid of the energy from new T-shirts and the festive crowd…
“Today we were looking for any kind of energy,” Gulutzan said. “When I saw the new jerseys and the excitement of the crowd and everything going on, the holiday season, I thought, 'Okay, this really helped. Seriously, this really helps a lot. We actually had a couple of coaches sitting on the bench and saying, “We love these, we love these jerseys, they're amazing and people are excited,” and we were like, “We can harness that energy right now.”
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Notes on the game “Quick Fire”
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Roope Hintz has become an elite player in terms of passing pucks as of late. He's scored three or four deflection goals in the last week, especially on the power play. And tonight he did it again.
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Kyle Capobianco had a really good game. He used his skating, which is very good, to defend and participate in the game. Capobianco has excellent twists and turns that allow him to play in tight spaces and overcome obstacles quickly. He did this several times and then intervened on the forecheck to score Jamie Benn's goal to level the score at 2–2. Gulutzan said the coaching staff is pushing Capobianco to skate more and play his game.
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Most teams are probably conferring on how they should avoid penalties at all costs against Dallas. Why not? The Stars rank second in the league in power play (0.1 percent behind Pittsburgh heading into tonight's game). Well, I think Utah missed this one as Mammoth gave Dallas a full double-minor after Benn's high stick and then proceeded to take two separate penalties on the same play and faced a scary 5-on-3 for two minutes. Dallas scored on the first half of each of those power plays, goals that put them on the board after being down 2-0 and gave them a 4-3 lead they wouldn't relinquish at the end of the second. games. Five Dallas power plays in 40 minutes was probably not what Utah wanted to see.
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Miro Heiskanen passed the 500 game mark tonight. His 305 points at this point are only eight points behind Sergei Zubov.
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Oettinger looked much better as the game went on. This has been his MO lately. I know he wants to start games better, but his ability to stop after one or two goals is really impressive.
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Oettinger, on the same night he wore pads in honor of Ed Belfour, tied the Eagle record with 160 career wins in a Stars jersey. And he did it in fewer games. As Gulutzan said, when compared to a goaltender who has beaten Grant Fuhr, Curtis Joseph, Patrick Roy and Dominik Hasek, that's pretty good company.
Quotable
Mikko Rantanen is a team that has been finding its way lately
“At the beginning of the year, we weren't doing that at all, playing a full 60. Now we feel like we're getting out of bad moments faster… Now, maybe for five minutes we're kind of stuck, and then we figure it out and turn the scales again. So, it's definitely better.”
