With the NHL’s All-Star break in full flight, the Dallas Stars sent down three players to the AHL’s Texas Stars. The minor league team is reaping the benefits.
CEDAR PARK, Texas — With the National Hockey League commencing their annual All-Star festivities, three players with Dallas Stars experience this season are keeping their legs fresh over the break.
Dillon Heatherington, Julius Honka, and Jason Dickinson joined the American Hockey League’s Texas Stars in their pre-All Star break push in two games this weekend, helping the farm team split a two-game set against the Stockton Heat (Calgary Flames) at HEB Center at Cedar Park.
The three players have not only accomplished their pre-set goals of staying conditioned for more NHL service time, but have also looked fabulous doing it. In a stacked Pacific Division with all eight teams over .500 on the season, Texas needed that boost.
On Friday night, everyone was off their game in a 6-2 decision dropped by the Stars for their first loss in four games. Saturday, however, was a better all-around showing, with energy flowing from everyone in a 4-3 victory. It was clear they needed an NHL-caliber presence.
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In this trio, they got it. Heatherington, Honka, and Dickinson had previously played with Texas in other stints this season, and despite staying up north for awhile, they were reinserted without missing a beat.
“I thought everybody pitched in,” Derek Laxdal, the head coach of the Texas Stars, said after the game on Saturday. “A better effort and more composure with the big guys.”
More composure is a great way to put it, and more composure they got. The depth on the blueline and at the forward position was much better with the three of them in the lineup.
Heatherington paired up with Brett Regner on the Stars’ top defensive pair, assisting the penalty kill unit in going a solid 7-of-8 on the weekend and playing straight up against the opposition’s top line. The relatively recent recall of the Dallas Stars posted two shots in Friday’s game, playing somewhere near 23 to 24 minutes.
Texas was not short a puck-moving, offensive defenseman, however, as former Dallas Stars first-rounder Julius Honka generated offense at will with his blindingly quick feet and wonderful skill.
“I thought Honka and Gavin were a good pair, they scored a nice goal on the four-on-four that was the game-winner,” Laxdal added. “They helped out a lot.”
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Honka had an assist in each game, four total shots, and contributed to a power-play unit that totaled 13 shots in five tries over the weekend. He played well positionally and only turned the puck over once.
Dickinson was a saving grace in a sense on Saturday. Already tasked with facing stout competition and anchoring a line with rookie Roope Hintz, Dickinson doubled shifted onto the top-line due to an injury to captain Curtis McKenzie.
Dickinson helped preserve a late, one-goal lead in Saturday’s game, and not to be forgotten, was well-represented on the scoresheets over the weekend. The former Dallas Stars 29th-overall selection had an assist and a couple of high-danger shots on goal in the 120 minutes of play.
The Georgetown, Ontario native chipped in on the power play and penalty kill efforts of the Stars during a somewhat successful weekend on special teams.
All in all, they helped propel a youthful Texas team from fourth to second in the divisional standings this weekend with their overall play. “Every game right now is a playoff game, and that was the message for our guys this morning. They responded with the right mindset,” says Laxdal.
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Who returns to Dallas, who stays down in Cedar Park, and when is unclear, but what is clear is the level of play the trio of Dillon Heatherington, Julius Honka, and Jason Dickinson can bring to this Texas Stars team. Sooner or later, they will be filling in the same kind of necessary presence to the Dallas Stars.