Dallas Stars Training Camp: Day Three Thoughts And Analysis
Dallas Stars training camp on day three wasn’t your conventional camp. A practice and a scrimmage to mix things up were held and our thoughts and takeaways are below.
After two days of traditional line rushes and up-tempo drills for their practices, the Dallas Stars held a veteran’s practice for pre-established National Hockey League players and a future prospects scrimmage for those pushing for a roster spot on Sunday morning and afternoon at HEB Center at Cedar Park.
In the veteran’s practice, every player that can be classified as a solidified NHL anchor – those that have graduated from prospect status – appeared and worked hard to prepare for the season and woo head coach Ken Hitchcock and his staff. Notable veteran’s practice names included Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, and the rest of the familiar Dallas Stars faces, but also some players with a lot to prove.
Jamie Oleksiak, Greg Pateryn, and Patrik Nemeth skated with hopes of holding the 7th defenseman spot, and all three looked good in their own right. Julius Honka, who was on both the veteran’s practice roster and that of the prospects scrimmage (which perfectly sums up his past season), also impressed Ken Hitchcock. “With the puck, he’s excellent. He’s an elite player with the puck.”
The Stars also worked on their special teams units for a good amount of the practice. The power play lineups consisted of, on the primary man-advantage attack: Benn, Seguin, Alexander Radulov, Jason Spezza, and John Klingberg. The second unit saw Devin Shore, Brett Ritchie, Mattias Janmark, Esa Lindell, and Julius Honka working together.
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Remember, these are all to be determined, of course, with the impending return of center Martin Hanzal, but the simple aspect of all of these weapons on the 5-on-4 has to be scary for other teams and exciting for us fans.
The veteran’s practice was essentially a blank canvas for Hitchcock – he could experiment like a mad scientist in his laboratory.
Hitchcock is a man of discipline and routine, a coach that doesn’t fix things that aren’t broken, and a legendary figure that loves to stick to the same 12 forwards and six defensemen. If Hitchcock is building up his confidence in these players, then you can expect to see a lot of them.
“The best thing about the [veterans practice] was the tempo. We got what we wanted to get. I was very impressed with the practice and the scrimmage as well,” Hitchcock said. Both the evaluation and experimentation of NHLers and that of prospects were extremely important on Sunday, and Hitchcock was pleased.
Frankly, he had a lot of be pleased with. The prospects’ scrimmage allowed us, analysts and coaches included, to further examine player readiness and skill.
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“The scrimmage changed our mind on like three or four players,” Hitchcock added at the conclusion of the game of three periods worth 25 minutes. “Some guys really emerged.” Team A, also referred to as Team Victory Green in relation to their green sweaters, knocked off Team B or Team White by a score of 5-2 in the game, and 3-2 in the post-game shootout.
Nicholas Caamano led the way for the winning side of the Dallas Stars prospects with two goals in the scrimmage, while Justin Dowling scored both goals for Team White and added a goal in the shootout.
With that, we can again get to our classifications.
EXPECTED EXCELLENCE
Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Mattias Janmark, Brett Ritchie, John Klingberg, Julius Honka, Mike McKenna, Devin Shore, Jason Dickinson
Benn, Seguin, Ritchie, Janmark, Klingberg, Shore, and Honka looked good on the power play, in addition to Honka appearing to be the best player on the ice in the prospects’ scrimmage. Mike McKenna showed in the prospect scrimmage in stopping two penalty shots and being beaten only on two Justin Dowling breakaways that his experience in goal is extremely vital to the Texas Stars. Jason Dickinson was expected to be a force in the prospect scrimmage and made some noise, looking healthier with every shift.
SURPRISING EXCELLENCE
Gemel Smith, Brian Flynn, Dillon Heatherington, Nicholas Caamano, Roope Hintz, Sheldon Dries, Jason Robertson, Philippe Desrosiers, Justin Dowling, Niklas Hansson
All of these guys are prospects that impressed the heck out of me today. Gemel Smith, Justin Dowling, and Nicholas Caamano caught the eye of head coach Ken Hitchcock, and Roope Hintz, Sheldon Dries, and Jason Robertson were recognized on the scoresheet. Niklas Hansson has further refined his offensive game on the slimmer North American ice, while Dillon Heatherington’s skating looks much improved and his breakout pass and physicality still look great.
“Smith, Dowling, Caamano stepped up. Some people that weren’t on the radar came through,” Hitchcock said.
Philippe Desrosiers bounced back from an awry Saturday and looked great against a Team Victory Green that dominated the shooting and scoresheet. Brian Flynn, who skated on a line like Dowling and Smith, was outstanding: he might be a better depth option at forward than the heavily-heralded R.J. Umberger.
UNDERWHELMING
Denis Gurianov, R.J. Umberger, Jason Spezza, Ondrej Vala, Mark McNeill
Again, I’d like to see more out of Denis Gurianov, who often looked out of place or generally unnoticeable in the prospects’ scrimmage. As a former first-round Entry Draft pick, Gurianov needs to be better at asserting himself and reignite the dominance he displayed in the Traverse City tournament and the World Junior Championships.
Jason Spezza will be fine and its probably an injustice to his overall game to put him here, but Spezza looked a bit off on his power play drills; the elusive drop pass is still difficult to comprehend.
Ondrej Vala needs a lot of work in his overall game as a three-zone defenseman, and Mark McNeill is showing why the Chicago Blackhawks were quick to unload him at the trade deadline last season, as the forward has an awkward first stride skating. R.J. Umberger, again, looks old and slow, but he did look a little better than the first two days of camp during the scrimmage today.
Next: Dallas Stars Fans Await Seguin, Benn on NHL Top 50 List
Training camp concludes tomorrow in Cedar Park with what Ken HItchcock described as “a getaway day.” It’ll feature “competitive one-on-one and two-on-two drills” with “both groups on the ice for about an hour,” according to Hitch. Stay tuned to Blackout Dallas for more from camp over the next few days as camp in Cedar Park ends and transitions to Frisco.