How would one rate the Dallas Stars’ free agency period? Let’s start by what they needed going in.
A SECOND LINE
Dallas were a 2-man force last season in Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. Sure, the likes of Valeri Nichuskin and Alex Chiasson chipped in, but primarily, it was Benn and Seguin. That all changed with the acquistion of disgruntled Ottawa Senators captain, Jason Spezza. Spezza brings not only experience, offensive class and skill, but the biggest reason is a dominant second line center. Management is confident that Cody Eakin will be that guy in the future, but right now, why not take a chance on Spezza? He has one year left on his contract, and even though it is a 7 million dollar cap hit for this season, Dallas only traded away Chiasson, 2 prospects and a 2nd rd pick in 2015, in exchange for Spezza and prospect Ludwig Karlsson. If it works, then you have a dynamite 1-2 punch in the middle, possibly only matched by the Cup-winning duo of Modano-Nieuwendyk. Adding Spezza allows players like Eakin to learn and master their craft from a leader and a star player, taking the pressure off him, if he re-signs with the Stars, after being offered an offer sheet by the Stars this off-season.
The center is solved, and Dallas finished off proceedings, by signing a former-now-current team-mate of Jason Spezza, in Ales Hemsky. Hemsky (3yrs/$12mil) played alongside Spezza in Ottawa last season, after arriving there in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers. This familiarity between the two will make the second line in Dallas, just as potent as the first, if they can gel from the beginning of the season, and keep it up until what could be a deep playoff run.
HELP FOR LEHTONEN
Kari Lehtonen, good goaltender, but the word injury-prone could not describe him better. Realizing that they don’t need an ordinary back-up and more of a mini-starter, Dallas signed Anders Lindback, formerly of the Tampa Bay Lightning, to serve as the backup for the upcoming season. Losing his starting gig to Vezina candidate Ben Bishop, Lindback brings a .904% and 2.74GAA to potentially start as many as 25-30 games next season, if Lehtonen continues his injury-riddled seasons of past.
DEFENCE
The only other free agent signing on Day One was depth forward Patrick Eaves, leaving the D untouched as of now for the upcoming season. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as the defensive crop is plentiful. Players like Jamie Oleksiak, Patrik Nemeth and first-round pick Julius Honka could be a chance, and current Star RFA Brenden Dillon could be a great D man if his progress continues as much as it did this past season. One more solid defensive defensemen wouldn’t hurt, but the Stars could live without it, if some of the younger players can step up to the next level and become a solid unit led by Trevor Daley, Alex Goligoski and Sergei Gonchar.
In the past 12 months, Jim Nill has changed the Dallas Stars from that team that would always just miss the playoffs, to potentially challenging for Lord Stanley’s Cup. The future of hockey is bright in Texas, and with the Texas Stars winning the Calder Cup this past season as well, the future looks very bright. Could we see a return to the days of the late 90’s? Let’s just say, the future is in the Stars.
I have a Twitter for some unknown reason, it’s @ThatDamnDoubleC. Also, go visit BoredWrestlingFan.com, as we’re like brothers or something. You like the little icon in the top left corner where the title of this blog is? I found that here.
Welcome to BoredHockeyFan’s 2014 NHL Entry Draft coverage. You’ve heard all the buzz.. Let’s get into it..
FIRST ROUND
PICK 1 – FLORIDA PANTHERS – Aaron Ekblad – Barrie (OHL)
PICK 2 – BUFFALO SABRES – Sam Reinhart – Kootenay (OHL)
PICK 3 – EDMONTON OILERS – Leon Darisaitl – Prince Albert (WHL)
PICK 4 – CALGARY FLAMES – Sam Bennett – Kingston (OHL)
PICK 5 – NEW YORK ISLANDERS – Michael Dal Colle – Oshawa (OHL)
PICK 6 – VANCOUVER CANUCKS – Jake Virtanen – Calgary (WHL)
PICK 7 – CAROLINA HURRICANES – Haydn Fleury – Red Deer (WHL)
PICK 8 – TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS – William Nylander – Modo (SWE)
PICK 9 – WINNIPEG JETS – Nikolaj Ehlers – Halifax (QMJHL)
PICK 10 – ANAHEIM DUCKS – Nick Ritchie – Peterborough (OHL)
PICK 11 – NASHVILLE PREDATORS – Kevin Fiala – HV71 Jr. (SWE-JR.)
PICK 12 – ARIZONA COYOTES – Brendan Perlini – Niagara (OHL)
PICK 13 – WASHINGTON CAPITALS – Jakub Vrana – Linkoping (SWE)
PICK 14 – DALLAS STARS – Julius Honka – Swift Current (WHL)
PICK 15 – DETROIT RED WINGS – Dylan Larkin – USA U-18 (USHL)
PICK 16 – COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS – Sonny Milano – USA U-18 (USHL)
PICK 17 – PHILADELPHIA FLYERS – Travis Sanheim – Calgary (WHL)
PICK 18 – MINNESOTA WILD – Alex Tuch – USA U-18 (USHL)
PICK 19 – TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING – Anthony DeAngelo – Sarnia (OHL)
PICK 20 – CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS – Nick Schmaltz – Green Bay (USHL)
PICK 21 – ST. LOUIS BLUES – Rob Fabbri – Guelph (OHL)
PICK 22 – PITTSBURGH PENGUINS – Kasperi Kapanen – Kalpa (FIN)
PICK 23 – COLORADO AVALANCHE – Conner Bleackley – Red Deer (WHL)
PICK 24 – VANCOUVER CANUCKS – Jared McCann – Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)
PICK 25 – BOSTON BRUINS – David Pastrnak – Sodertalje (SWE)
PICK 26 – MONTREAL CANADIENS – Nikita Scherbak – Saskatoon (WHL)
PICK 27 – SAN JOSE SHARKS – Nikolay Goldobin – Sarnia (OHL)
PICK 28 – NEW YORK ISLANDERS – Joshua Ho-Sang – Windsor (OHL)
PICK 29 – LOS ANGELES KINGS – Adrian Kempe – Modo (SWE)
PICK 30 – NEW JERSEY DEVILS – John Quenneville – Brandon (WHL)
TRADES MADE ON DRAFT DAY ONE:
VAN trade Ryan Kesler, ’15 3rd Rd to ANA for Nick Bonino Luca Sbisa ’14 1st Rd (24), ’14 3rd Rd (85)
VAN trade Jason Garrison, Rights to Jeff Costello, ’15 7th Rd to TB for ’14 2nd Rd (50)
VAN trade ’14 3rd Rd (85) to NYR for Derek Dorsett
PIT trade James Neal to NSH for Patric Hornqvist, Nick Spaling
SJS trade ’14 1st Rd (20), ’14 7th Rd (179) to CHI for ’14 1st Rd (27), ’14 2nd Rd (62)
TBL trade ’14 1st Rd (28) to NYI for ’14 2nd Rd (35), ’14 3rd Rd (57)
It’s been awhile friends. But, unfortunately, that’s the cruel mistress known as life. More work, means less time to write blogs and post for this very website, but that all changes! Whilst, every hockey blogger, reporter and columnist goes on vacation for two months, I plan to be here, providing material for your viewing pleasure. Because we sure have missed a lot haven’t we?
The LA Kings won the Stanley Cup, defeating the New York Hockey Rangers in 5 games. Rich Peverley’s career is in Jeopardy after suffering heart problems during a Dallas Stars/Columbus Blue Jackets matchup. Team Canada won Olympic Gold defeating Team Sweden in the final. Team USA gave up to not even win bronze. Sidney Crosby won the Hart, Scott Hartnell got traded to CBJ, Patrice Bergeron is your NHL 15 Cover guy.. so so much.
There’s a bright side to all this though. The draft is coming up, and then Free Agency.. which will add excitement for the next few weeks.. and before you know it the new season is here, and the circle of hockey life begins again for another year.
I apologize there hasn’t been much content recently, but some things you can’t control and things put on the back burner. But never fear hockey fans. We will be here more regularly in your lives before too long.
For the first time in any sports game, real-world physics affects every player through every on-ice collision with the new 12 Player NHL ® Collision Physics. Utilizing the power of the next generation consoles, and building off the critically-acclaimed NHL Collision Physics system, every player on the ice is governed by physics at all times. Feel the hard-hitting chaos of NHL hockey through true-to-life secondary collisions, net scrambles and player pileups, capturing the desperation of every shift.
Real Puck Physics
The puck is one of the most complex items in the game to authentically replicate and it finally gets its due in NHL 15. Completely rebuilt puck physics result in a more realistic feel to every puck interaction. Everything on the ice, including the ice surface itself, is live which leads to the unpredictable and authentic puck spins, rolls and bounces seen in a real NHL game.
Authentic Player & Equipment Models
The Next Generation Hockey Player has been rebuilt from the ice up. Now player models have three distinct layers – the body, equipment, and jersey. Each layer interacts independently, making every contact with the puck or other players even more realistic. Dynamic Cloth technology adds an extra layer of realism as it reacts to the player’s movement as they explode up the ice, helping bring the speed of the game to life.
Unprecedented Player Likeness
Powered by the same technology that brought the most realistic representation of the athlete to EA SPORTS UFC, NHL 15 delivers groundbreaking player likeness, emotion and animation. From the strides a player takes to get up the ice to the emotion on their face after scoring a game winning goal, the players are as real as they’ve ever been.
Superstar Skill Stick
Now all the tools of an NHL superstar are in your hands. The revolutionary Skill Stick has evolved to give even more control to the player. Protect the puck, receive passes without breaking stride, and discover an arsenal of sweet new dekes, all with an intuitive right stick control scheme that is easy to use but packed with depth.
Authentic Arenas
There is no feeling like being there, and we are giving you the best seats in the house. The power of the next-gen consoles finally allows the NHL franchise to capture every detail of an NHL arena. Unique arena elements from 19,000+ seat capacities to lighting and player entrance tunnels are captured with a level of detail not possible on the previous generation. Now those home games will truly feel like home.
New Commentary Team
New voices for a new generation. NHL 15 welcomes the NBC Sports commentary team of Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick and Eddie Olczyk to the broadcast booth. TSN analyst Ray Ferraro will provide game insights at ice level. Combined with Real Life Broadcast Integration that will feature real-world pre-game video commentary with Doc and Eddie set against in-game visuals, NHL 15 takes a revolutionary step forward in sports videogames; where the lines between the real world of sport broadcast and the game are blurred.
NBC Sports Game Day Presentation
The most realistic broadcast package in a video game to-date is possible because of a new partnership with NBC Sports. Set the scene with the NHL on NBC crew welcoming you to the city during the game intros and immerse yourself in an experience that matches what you see on television with NHL on NBC graphics and branding.
Living Crowds
NHL 15 sets a new standard in videogames with over 9,000 individual crowd models with 4x the animations of previous generations. Take a look through the glass and you’ll see fans hold up signs with your name on them, costume wearing superfans, or even sections full of team rivals rooting against you. Feel their behavior change after dropping the gloves, landing a big hit, or scoring a clutch goal. The crowd is alive.
Vision AI
An elevated level of player intelligence, Vision AI features evolved awareness with players reading and reacting to potential plays. Scoring area recognition, pass anticipation, and enhanced team breakouts all improve the flow of the game.
EA SPORTS NHL 15 will be available this fall with the preceeding features on Xbox One and Playstation 4. Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions will also be available. Pre-order now!
