Dallas Stars minor league affiliates get ready for their playoff series

This will be a different edition of Down on the Farm this week since both minor league affiliates of the Dallas Stars are in the playoffs. It's pretty cool to brag about having all three teams of an NHL franchise in the playoffs together. It means the scouting department finds the right prospects and puts them at the right level. The fact that the Dallas Stars had to call up Logan Stankoven after he destroyed the AHL shows that Neil Graham is developing the players correctly.

The Texas Stars and the Steelheads are going up against some good teams in the first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs. Later this week, the Idaho Steelheads will travel to Allen, Texas, to play the Allen Americans. They kicked off their playoffs with an exciting win last win in OT 6-5. The Steelheads were trailing early in the game and found a way to come back and win. So far, they are up 1-0 in their series against the Americans.

Forwards A.J. White and Wade Murphy have led the offense for the Steelheads. Both of them have 66 points and can find their linemates for goals. Ty Pelton-Brice is another player that the Americans will have to guard closely. Even though he only has 17 goals this season, his 43 assists make him a threat on the ice. The Steelheads must stop Colby McAuley from scoring on them. He leads the Americans with 25 goals and 38 assists this season. It should be a grueling series between both clubs.

Let's move over to the AHL and the Texas Stars. Their first-round series has a fun storyline due to the ending of the schedule. They earned home-ice advantage against the Manitoba Moose for their three-game series, which kicks off tonight. The Texas Stars could play the Moose five games in seven days. That's a fun storyline for an AHL Playoff series.

The Texas Stars will be without Logan Stankoven during this series. They will be led by Mavrik Bourque, who recently won the AHL scoring title. He is the second player in Texas Stars history to win the award. He finished the season with 32 goals and 58 assists and will be the Moose's number one player they need to shut down. Matej Blumel will be Mavrik's right-hand man during this series. He finished the season with 31 goals and 31 assists.

Moose forward Brad Lambert will be the primary player the Texas Stars must stop on offense. Lambert finished with 21 goals and 34 assists and is a crafty hockey player for the Moose. It will be interesting to see how the Texas Stars control his offense during this series. It's fun when the Dallas Stars have three teams in the playoffs. It means that Stars' fans get to enjoy playoff hockey across three different levels.

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