Dallas Stars Morning Skate Quotes From Ruff, Spezza

The Dallas Stars will take on the Nashville Predators tonight at the American Airlines Center to close out 2015. Morning skate quotes from Jason Spezza and Lindy Ruff can be found below.

The Dallas Stars hosted their usual morning skate on Thursday morning in preparation for their game tonight against the Nashville Predators. It was a bit longer than usual, considering the Stars did not practice yesterday. They almost ran a full practice during the time.

This skate was to practice for their matchup with Central Division opponent the Nashville Predators. This will be the Stars final game of the 2015 calendar year, and they are looking to close it out with a bang.

It was a rather quiet day in the locker room after morning skate, but we still captured some quotes from Jason Spezza and Lindy Ruff. Their responses can be found below:

Jason Spezza:

What he’s liked about their new play against the Central Division:

Well, that we’ve been able to win them? I don’t know, haha. We had some problems last year against the division so we’ve had to focus better against teams in our division.

What the message has been since the loss to the Blue Jackets:

It was a bit of a sloppy affair last game. Everybody is guilty of it at times. It’s just a matter of parking that game and refocusing and getting back to what we were doing well.

If it’s a strong characteristic to be able to put games behind them and play better the next time:

I think you have to. There’s 82 games and it’s very competitive. You can’t dwell on anything too long in this league. There have been a lot of games here in a short period of time and there are a lot of games coming up here in the next week. We just have to single focus on the game we’re playing that night and move on. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a bad loss or a good win.

If the game is any different because of the date (New Year’s Eve):

For me it doesn’t. But I’m sure the fans will be a little more excited probably. They’ll be wanting to have a good night tonight so we’ll try and give them something to celebrate over. For us as players, the holidays aren’t quite the same as they are for everybody else.

Lindy Ruff:

What his team has done to easily bounce back from losses:

We just get back to playing our game and focusing on playing well in our end and defending first. We didn’t play very well defensively [last game] and ended up chasing the game and never did quite catch up to it. That hurts.

If the team has an upset factor that drives them after losses:

I think so far this year we’ve seen that after a loss, our game has a lot of determination. We don’t lose two in a row, and that’s hard. It’s a hard thing to do in this league. You’re going to see that determination again tonight. A lot of it is going to depend on the energy we bring into the game.

What he expects in the first meeting with Nashville:

A real hard game. I’ve watched them. They’re a very good team defending and they don’t give up a lot. They’ve been a little bit snake-bit with the scoring side of it. But it’s going to be a game where we’re not going to get a lot of chances.

Their group of defense there is as good as any group. When you have a [Roman] Josi, [Shea] Weber, and [Seth] Jones, you’ve got some high quality defensemen that can move and shoot. Offensively, they can get in the play and do some damage.

What the key is to the Stars top line beating the Predators top pair:

When they’re out there, it will be taking what’s available. Not trying to create when there’s no space or no time. Trying to put them under duress and put the puck behind them. Like I said, they don’t make a lot of mistakes. I wouldn’t anticipate any high quality opportunities against that pair.

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An update on Ales Hemsky:

It’s lower body. It looks like it will be more of a week-to-week type of thing. Short term, he won’t be available for us.

What he liked about Radek Faksa’s play earlier this year:

I thought his play continued to get better and better as his time here went along. He defended very well. I thought he had some real good opportunities to score and missed on some breakaways and some great opportunities. He finally was able to get one, though. I liked his size physically and I liked his penalty killing. The defensive side he did some real good things for us.

When he played with Val [Nichushkin], that line was a good line for us when we went on the road trip.

Where he would put Faksa in the lineup:

I think I would put him at center. I think the flexibility we have and the flexibility we had last time was one of our center men would come out. We could play [Cody] Eakin up with somebody else, we could play [Jason] Spezza on the wing. We’ve done different looks, and even [Vernon] Fiddler could go to the wing.

I think Faksa’s best play has come in the middle and is probably the position I would play him.

What he thinks of Valeri Nichushkin’s chance with Faksa coming up:

I think it’s a great opportunity for him. He struggled for a bit again, and I think that those struggles are what young players go through. He got it going again. I’d like to see him physically again start to dominate those battles. I think that’s where it all started for him. He was winning the battles and creating his own space. When he’s doing that, he’s a very effective player for us. I think playing with Spezza he should get that opportunity.

Next: Stars Look To Finish 2015 Year With Win Against Predators

The Dallas Stars close out the 2015 year tonight against the Nashville Predators. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. from the American Airlines Center. Make sure to check back to Blackout Dallas for updates and details on the game!