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Star Gazing: Stars In Europe Updates, On the Farm

November 2, 2012, 11:24 AM ET [2 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Dallas Stars Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Following are some quick-hit updates on Stars players in Europe during the lockout. Starting times for players in action today are indicated in Central U.S. time.

* Extraliga: Jaromir Jagr has powered the Rytiri Kladno team he both owns and plays for into third place in the Extraliga, including an electrifying hat trick in a recent win over Sparta. Overall, the 40-year-old future Hall of Famer is eighth on the league scoring chart (despite playing 3 or 4 games fewer than the majority of the league leaders) with 8 goals, 12 assists and 20 points in 14 games. Linemate Tomas Plekanec (Montreal Canadiens) has the same number of points in one more game played.

Today, Kladno is on the road for a nationally televised game against HC Pardubice, for which a big turnout is expected at the 10,000+ seat CEZ Arena. The chance to see Jagr play in person, of course, is the main attraction.

A webcast of the game is available via Tipsport. Game time is at 11 AM.

Side note: Stars general manager Joe Nieuwendyk saw Jagr's hat trick game in person, as he was on a trip to Prague at the time.

* DEL: Jamie Benn (9 GP, 5 G, 5 A, 10 PTS) has worked through a goal-scoring slump in his early stay with the Hamburg Freezers and is now producing at the sort of pace one would expect against the ECHL/AHL caliber opposition he faces in Germany's top league. In his last game, Benn scored a pair of goals, including the game winner, in a 3-2 victory.

Today, the Freezers are on the road to take on the Augsburg Panthers. Game time is at 12:30 PM. Live updates will be available here.

* SM-liiga: Stephane Robidas and HIFK Helsinki are idle today. The Stars defenseman has played a little better than his plus-minus stats (minus five overall, with five pluses and 10 minuses) thus far would suggest. He's averaging more than 25 minutes of ice time per game (25:32 average) and HIFK collectively has not played very good team defense this season. Overall Robidas has three points (1G, 2 A) in eight games to date with the 7th-place team. The team is on the road tomorrow to take on KalPa Kuopio.

* SM-liiga: Philip Larsen is not in the lineup today for Lukko Rauma as they take on Ässät Pori. He skated his usual ice time in Tuesday's game against Tappara. Overall, the speedy Danish defenseman has six points (2 G, 4 A), a plus-two rating (+9, -7) and an average 25:44 of ice time in 12 games with the Finnish club.

* KHL: Tom Wandell has four points (all assists) in 10 games to date for Severstal Cherepovets. As has happened in his Stars' career, his team experimented for a few games with putting him in more of a scoring-line role but he's since returned to his more comfortable checking line and penalty killing duties as his primary responsibilities. Rather than wing, however, he's mostly played center. Wandell has been a good shutdown forward for Severstal thus far, averaging 17:16 of ice time and winning 53.7 percent of his faceoffs thus far.

Today, the team is on the road to take on Traktor Chelyabinsk. The game is already underway as of this writing. A free webcast is available.

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FARM REPORT

In the early going of the 2012-13 regular season, the Texas Stars (3-4-0) have looked exactly like what they are: an AHL team trying primarily to develop young talent for the big club rather than a squad laden with experienced minor-league veterans in most of the key roles on the team. The result, predictably, has been some inconsistency.

After jumping out with a pair of wins to open the season, the T-Stars have lost four of their last five games. The team has had its ups and downs in pretty much every area, including the play of rookie goalies Jack Campbell and Cristopher Nilstorp.

Again, this is to be expected, and is no cause for alarm at this point. The one player for whom there is legitimate concern is former first-round pick Scott Glennie. He is simply not developing at the pace one would would have hoped at this point. Right now, he's not even in the Texas lineup, and I don't know of any significant injury.

On Sunday, Texas dropped a 4-2 decision to Oklahoma City. Cody Eakin scored his fourth goal of the season, while second-year pro (an All-Star Game participant as a rookie last year) finally scored his first of the year. In addition, Tomas Vincour and Francis Wathier contributed assists in a losing cause.

The Stars' Austin-based AHL affiliate is idle tonight but returns to action tomorrow night, hosting Grand Rapids. Game time will be at 7:00 PM.

Here is how some notable Texas Stars players have performed statistically to date:

FORWARDS
Cody Eakin (7 GP, 4 G, 3 A, 7 PTS, +5)
Tomas Vincour (7 GP, 1 G, 5 A, 6 PTS, +4)
Reilly Smith (7 GP, 0 G, 2 A, 2 PTS, 6 PIM, +2)
Alex Chiasson (4 GP, 1 G, 0 A, 1 PT, 2 PIM, E)
Matt Fraser (7 GP, 1 G, 0 A, 1 PT, -3)
Austin Smith -- (1 GP, 0 PTS); Demoted to Idaho in ECHL (3 GP, 3 G, 1 A, 4 PTS)
Scott Glennie -- Scratched in every game to date

DEFENSEMEN
Jamie Oleksiak (7 GP, 1 G, 2 A, 3 PTS, -1)
Brenden Dillon (7 GP, 0 G, 1 A, 1 PT, 11 PIM, +1)
Patrik Nemeth (7 GP, 0 PTS, 2 PIM, -1)
Cam Barker (7 GP, 1 G, 0 A, 1 PT, 16 PIM, -2)
Jordie Benn (7 GP, 0 G, 3 A, 3 PTS, +2)

GOALTENDERS
Jack Campbell (5 GP, 2-1-0, 2.94 GAA, .880 SV%)
Cristopher Nilstorp (5 GP, 1-3-0, 3.58 GAA, .860 SV%)

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