5 Quick Hits With Dallas Stars Coach Lindy Ruff
(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
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DALLAS (105.3 THE FAN) – The Dallas Stars kick off the 2014-15 season tonight at the American Airlines Center versus the Chicago Blackhawks.
Expectations are heightened after a young Dallas squad reached the playoffs for the first time since 2008, pushing the Pacific Division champ Ducks to six games.
Head Coach Lindy Ruff joined Shan, RJ and Mac Engel on Thursday morning. Here are five takeaways as they previewed the season.
(Photo by Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images)
1. The Talented Tyler Seguin
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Expectations were high when Dallas acquired the young forward from Boston prior to last season. According to Ruff, Seguin exceeded those expectations.
“For a young guy getting thrown back in the middle of the ice — playing out of his own end, going from the wing to center, where now your down-low responsibility is probably twice as much as it as a winger — I thought he did a really nice job. For our team, the speed up the middle is big. Playing as well as he did… He was ahead of where I thought he would be.”
Seguin collected a career-high 84 points (37 G, 47 A) in 80 games, good for 4th in the league. He’s still only 22.
Might he be even better in 2014-15?
2. The Curious Case Of Kari
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
The former second-overall pick took some flack for his playoff performance last season, when he allowed 19 goals in six games with an .885 save percentage.
“He did have a little bit of a tough playoff for us,” said Ruff. “The only way you answer that is by going out and getting the job done.”
Lehtonon hasn’t calmed worries with his lackluster preseason performance, posting an .802 save percentage and 4.82 goals against average.
And his backup Anders Lindback hasn’t shown that he’s ready for extended duties.
3. An Explosive Power Play Look
(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
The Stars ranked 23rd in power play efficiency last season, scoring on just 15.9 percent of opportunities. This year could be different.
The highly skilled unit will feature Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, Jason Spezza, Ales Hemsky and Alex Goligoski/Trevor Daley.
“That’s the way we’re going to start. Obviously we’ve got some good personnel that can go on a second unit for us.”
It’s not unreasonable to expect an improved power play this season. It’s not out of the question that this could be one of the league’s most deadly.
4. Recreating An Electric Atmosphere
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
If you attended last year’s playoffs, it’s no secret: The American Airlines Center was electric.
Ruff says that fans have already created a “special” atmosphere — even in preseason play.
“If you look at the atmosphere in this building in the playoffs, our fans are tremendous,” said Ruff. “That’s what we hope to capture again. Our fans are excited, our players were pushed by the amount of energy in this building and we need to capture this again.”
Don’t expect Blackhawks fans to take over the AAC tonight. Stars fans are the real deal.
5. Blue Line Depth?
Kevin Connauton (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Dallas unquestionably has the talent at the forward position, but can the blue line keep up? That may be the biggest question if the Stars are looking to take the next step.
Ruff believes that Daley and Goligoski are a great 1-2 punch. But beyond that…
“We need support from 3, 4 ,5 ,and 6 there,” said Ruff. “Dillon, Nemeth, Connauton — we need those players to step up and fill that gap in behind them.”
“Our system is built with active defense and getting up ice. I think our mobility on the back is as good as anybody’s defense. We’re young. We don’t have the number of games back there with that crew that some teams have, but we do feel that we have some very good, young players that should be able to develop and make that a solid D-core for us.”
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