Down on the Farm: The Texas Stars begin their season tonight at home
By Brian Sweet
This is the debut of a new Blackout Dallas Series called Down on the Farm. Last season, I felt like we didn’t cover the Stars’ prospects that much and figured we needed to start a weekly series this year on this. Each week we will take a look back at how the Texas Stars did that week and take a look at how the prospects did. We will also go over which prospects deserve a call-up to the Dallas Stars based on their performance. Enjoy the first-ever edition of Down on the Farm.
Isn’t it great to have hockey back after a long offseason? It felt great to watch the Dallas Stars beat the St. Louis Blues last night in a shootout to kick off the 2023-24 regular season. With the Dallas Stars on sort of a long break in between games, we now focus our attention on the Texas Stars. The Texas Stars are the AHL Affiliate of the Dallas Stars. This is where the Stars’ prospects play and develop their game in order to one day make the Dallas Stars Opening Night Roster.
The Texas Stars are coached by Neil Graham who has been coaching the team since 2019. He took over for Derek Laxdal who was promoted to be an assistant coach for the Dallas Stars. Before coaching the Texas Stars, he was the Head Coach of the Idaho Steelheads which is the ECHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars. Graham led the Stars to the Central Division title last season. He knows a thing or two about developing the next generation of Dallas Stars Hockey.
The Texas Stars have a really good roster led by the Stars’ top prospect Logan Stankoven. Mavrik Bourque returns to the Stars as well as Antonio Stranges. Stankoven’s teammate from the Kamloops Blazers, Matthew Seminoff, is also on the roster. They will be led and mentored by Texas Stars Captain Curtis McKenzie who recently signed a two-year deal during the summer to remain a part of the organization. Let’s take a look at the Texas Stars roster to see who else will be playing in Cedar Park this season.
Texas Stars 2023-24 Roster
Forwards: (15)
Francesco Arcuri
Oskar Back
Ben Berard
Matej Blumel
Mavrik Bourque
Nick Caamano
Riley Damiani
Fredrik Karlstrom
Keaton Mastrodonato
Kyle McDonald
Curtis McKenzie
Scott Reedy
Matthew Seminoff
Logan Stankoven
Antonio Stranges
Defensemen: (8)
Gavin Bayreuther
Lian Bichsel
Artem Grushnikov
Michael Karow
Christian Kyrou
Alexander Petrovic
Derrick Pouliot
Gavin White
Goaltenders: (2)
Matt Murray
Remi Poirier
Texas Stars Upcoming Schedule
Let’s take a look at their upcoming schedule to start the regular season. It looks like the Texas Stars have back-to-back games at home starting tonight against the Tuscon Roadrunners which is the AHL Affiliate of the Arizona Coyotes. Then they will travel to Chicago to take on the Wolves which is an independent AHL team. Next week we will take a look at how they did in their first three games of the season and what they need to improve on.