Dallas Stars Morning Skate Quotes: Oduya, Ruff, Spezza

The Dallas Stars will take on the Calgary Flames tonight from the American Airlines Center. Morning skate quotes from Johnny Oduya, Lindy Ruff, and Jason Spezza can be found below.

The Dallas Stars hosted their typical morning skate Thursday morning in preparations to duel with the Calgary Flames tonight. The Flames are 6-0-0 in the month of December this year and are looking to stay undefeated. Meanwhile the Dallas Stars boast the best record in the NHL. So, there are bound to be some fireworks tonight between two of the league’s hottest teams.

We captured some morning skate quotes today from Johnny Oduya, Lindy Ruff, and Jason Spezza. You can find them below.

Johnny Oduya:

How he has felt so far in his first season with the Stars:

I’ve felt pretty good. Whenever you come in to a new situation, you never know how things are going to be. Obviously I knew they were a good team because I used to play against them a lot. The style is similar to the one we played in Chicago. My role that I was given is one that I’m comfortable doing and it fit me pretty good. Figuring out how it was going to work was, in my mind, pretty good.

I felt very fortunate to be given the opportunity and in the circumstance to join a team like this that’s very good. Also with a start like this, things are a lot more fun. For us, we just need to keep going. There are things we want to improve on, and it’s the same for me. I think I could get more comfortable with player situations and we can move forward as a team.

How he likes playing with Jason Demers:

He’s a really good defenseman and a smart player. He’s a good skater and can make plays defensively. He’s very responsible and always in a good spot. He’s a very good overall defenseman. For us too, it’s just a matter of getting things done every night and staying as consistent as possible. We try to build each other up in a way where you can find a chemistry and grow and get better.

The main thing they have to do tonight to hand Calgary their first loss of December:

I think we have to play our game. We talked about a lot of things in our game that we were worried about. We need to respect our opponent and be a little bit more responsible. We need to play a good team game and that’s what we’re looking to do. We have to play good defensively and have a good structure. We know we can score goals.

We have to improve on the penalty kill and I need to have a better performance. But for us it’s mainly how we’re going to play and compete. We need to have a good start. There have been a couple games where our starts haven’t been that good so we have to go back to. I think we had a couple games like that at the beginning of last month too where we were a little bit swollen at the start.

It’s tough being a good team where if you give up too much at the beginning, it sets the tone for the whole game.

How the Dallas Stars fan base compares to Chicago’s:

I’ve been impressed. I think it’s been pretty good. I know coming here in years before when it almost felt empty. It’s been really good and obviously we hope that the fans are finding the games exciting and are wanting to come and watch us play. You see that some of the tradition is there and they’ve had good teams around here before. They know their hockey a little bit more than some other teams in the south.

We’re happy for everyone that comes out and supports us. It’s huge for us.

Lindy Ruff:

If the team comes into this game with a chip on their shoulder:

We can’t put it completely behind us. It left a bad taste in our mouth when we left there. We had to move on from playing a pretty poor third period. But we’re focused on tonight’s game which is a whole different contest.

If this revamped Calgary team is any different than the one the Stars played:

When you start going well and players start going good, it seems that you ride a little bit of a wave. It’s a lot better than going the other direction. When you get going like that a lot of good things happen. When you’re winning you get some breaks along the way, and when you’re losing you can’t buy a break. For us, we want to try and play a 60-minute game. We’ve been two out of three periods here lately and we want to fix some of those issues.

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On how to mentally prepare his team for this game:

We tried a little bit different procedure this morning and changed up our morning routine. We focused on what we want to do in those firsthand minutes and see if we can execute. I think we all realized that we were disappointed at where we were at in those firsthand minutes the other night. Some of the stuff we did with the puck is some of the stuff that leads the other team to getting an edge on us.

If there are similarities between the two teams in regards to creating offense with defense:

I don’t think you can create offense in this league unless your defense is involved. Three guys against five down low is tough. If you don’t bring a fourth guy on the rush, it’s hard to create those rush opportunities. It also forces the other team into making sure they come back. They’ve got defensemen that like to get up in the play and that hurt us in Calgary.

A lot of times when we score a key goal it’s the result of a defenseman driving through or a defenseman coming late that creates those added opportunities. The speed of their back end is very similar to ours.

Jason Spezza:

On starting a charity of his own affiliated with the Stars:

I’d like to. My intentions are to be here for a while and I want to be here for a while. I had a strong connection in Ottawa when I played with the community, fans, and kids. To have an opportunity to play in this league, you feel fortunate. I wanted to make sure I did something that was right and we came up with a scholarship fund that gave kids the opportunity to play.

Especially in Dallas it’s a great way to meet some kids and get involved with the community.

His thoughts on Ruff’s consistent line juggling:

He likes to do it, and we’ve gotten used to it. At times, it’s been able to change the flow of the game, and at times he’s kept us together and allowed us to build chemistry with other guys. That’s part of being a player, you have to adapt to what your coach wants. I think I’ve played with everybody on the team this year, so I’m more than comfortable playing with whoever I have to play with.

That’s probably a strong suit because when you get into injuries and sickness, you’ll have to throw some lines together. Then you get fights and penalties as well, so it’s good that we’re all comfortable playing with each other. And sometimes he just does it because we’re not playing well. You adapt to what your coach wants, and he likes to mix the lines a lot of times. As players, we’re comfortable with that now.

Next: Stars Looking To Get Revenge Against Undefeated Flames

The Dallas Stars take on the Calgary Flames tonight. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Make sure to check into Blackout Dallas for details on the game!