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Ruff Gets A Right D-emers |
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Updated:
Sabres @ Capitals
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The Dallas Stars have been searching high and low for answers to their team's inconsistent play. Lindy Ruff's club has no problems scoring goals and creating offense with Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, Trevor Daley, and Antoine Roussel living up to their end of the bargain.
Ruff's club has had a togh time keeping the puck out of its net. Its not Kari Lehtonen's fault entirely that the Stars are currently giving opponents 3.35 goals-per game (27th in the NHL). Lehtonen's 2.92 GAA and .906 save percentage would be considerably better if his D weren't a turnstile in front of him. Blame goes to the Dallas blue line, a collection of vets and youngster who are either even players or minus players.
The Stars presently sit at 24th overall in the league in terms of goal differential. While their group have scored 56 goals in 20 games this season, they have also allowed 68 goals against.
After 20 games of watching the futility and D-zone mistakes, Ruff has had enough already.
On Friday,Ruff, a patient man by trade, was given help in the form of a right handed D in San Jose's Jason Demers who will add immediate value and help to stabilize the Dallas back end.
The Jason Demers-for-Brenden Dillon swap is Ruff's third move in the past week to improve his blue line struggles. Last week, the Stars dealt traded 40 year old Sergei Gonchar to Montreal for veteran grinding forward Travis Moen. Earlier this week, the Stars placed Kevin Connauton on waivers and he was immediately claimed by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“You can see with our back end, we’ve been working hard on that,” Stars coach Lindy Ruff told the Dallas Morning News, shortly after the trade was announced. “We’ve made some adjustments and we’ve brought some younger guys in.”
The Stars desperately needed a right-handed defenseman, so turning to the Sharks was no surprise. Demers will be one of just two righties on the Stars’ roster with promising youngster and recently John Klingberg (AHL Texas Stars) being the other.
Ruff is relying on knowledge that he has gathered awhile coaching Team Canada with Detroit's Mike Babcock at the past two Olympic games .
“We’ve made some adjustments and we’ve brought some younger guys in. I think the puck moving, what Klingberg has added, the right-handed defenseman, I think everybody has seen the dividends.
“When I got involved in the Olympics, the number one thing we talked about was lefty-righty, lefty-righty, because they’re under so much duress that when you’re caught in your back end, a lot of times there’s no play. So I think that part has helped.”
Stars GM Jim Nill:
“Organizationally, we were in the marketplace for a right-handed, two-way defenseman and he (Demers) will help us tremendously in finding a balance on our blueline.”
Nill wasn't going to coax Tim Murray to trade Tyler Myers out of Buffalo by using Brenden Dillon as bait. I'm told that Murray wanted two of Dallas' top prospects in power forward Brett Ritchie and Finnish D difference maker Julius Honka.
If you want a 200 foot, veteran right handed D like Tyler Myers, be prepared to pay dearly to land him. Dallas clearly though better of trading blue chip organizational prospects for a solution to their D issues.
Detroit and Anaheim continue to keep their watchful eye on Myers.
Ruff will play Demers in every situation and will skate him 20 minutes plus per game.
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Here's something you don't see everyday:
Milan Lucic getting dummied by one punch.
Blue Jackets tough guy Dalton Prout dropped Lucic with on right cross to the jaw bone in Columbus on Friday night.
It's now the shot heard round the hockey world.
Lucic has ben the NHLs most feared fighter for the past few seasons. He's taken advantage of his fair share of fight opponents to be certain. It seems to me that guys are seeking him out rather than skate away from him this season. Is Lucic not the same intimidating guy that he once was?
Is he losing his reputation as the king of the jungle?
You'll recall that last mnth Sabres brawler Chris Stewart tattooed Lucic in a heavyweight bout in Buffalo.
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