SB Nation - Clay Wilson

Visiting Panthers even out preseason, defeat Dallas 3-1

Whale4ever — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:05:23 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

3 months ago: Florida Panthers right wing Adam Keefe (64) and Dallas Stars left wing Luke Gazdic (52) fight in the second period of a preseason NHL hockey game Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

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In a game heard exactly nowhere, Clay Wilson's PP goal began the scoring, while Kamil Kreps' (1g,1a) wrister proved the eventual winner as the Cats outlasted the Stars in Dallas.

Evgeni Dadonov added insurance in the third, but the home club's Jamie Benn decided this was not the night to hand Florida's Scott Clemmensen his first shutout as a Panther, beating the Cats netminder with a PP wrist shot at 10:11 of the third.

Clemmensen finished the evening with 26 saves on 27 shots.

The Panthers return to ~~the War Memorial~~ Sunrise for their first and only game of the exhibition season tonight at 7:30 against Stars. Former Cats to watch: Karlis Skrastins, Joe Nieuwendyk (but we're not expecting him to come off the bench). And this day cannot go by fast enough.

Florida Panthers quickie-poll: What's the priority for Cats going forward

Whale4ever — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:10:52 -0000

So...now what?

Current Florida Lineup (and organizational "possibles"), as of 07/10/09:

CENTER

Greg Campbell
Michael Frolik (C/W)
Kamil Kreps
Shawn Matthias
Steve Reinprecht
Jeff Taffe
Stephen Weiss

RIGHT WING

LEFT WING

DEFENSE

GOAL

Some prominent names still on the market (as of 07/08/09).

Poll

Now that the initial free agency rush has subsided, which position should the Cats address? (Suggestions in the comments section)

Center

27 votes

Right Wing

13 votes

Left Wing

1 votes

Defense...Bouw's gone: panic!

4 votes

Goal...well, c'mon - they're set in goal - right???

3 votes

Management...there was the little issue of a GM search

10 votes

58 votes | Poll has closed

Florida Panthers Saturday Links-of-Wonder

Whale4ever — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:15:43 -0000

Wondering how "negotiations" are proceeding between Panthers management and Rosenhaus? Behold above.

Kevin Oklobzija wonders if the Panthers haven't struck minor-league gold - and perhaps major-league relief - in signing defenseman Clay Wilson.

More Rochester madness as the organization signs former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins center/winger Jeff Taffe. Hmmm...a forward who scored 75 points in 74 AHL games last year. Whatever is the appeal?

"I told them I appreciated everything (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has) done for me. It's one of the best places I've ever played. But Florida called right away and it was the kind of deal I couldn't pass up at this point in my career."

A very welcome and long-overdue story on defenseman - and new dad - Bryan Allen from the (Kingston, ON) Whig Standard. You do remember him, yes?

A dual-shot of Puck Daddys/Puck Daddies/Puck Daddae: Greg grades all thirty teams on their free agency perfomance so far, while Sean believes Pierre McGuire would make a fine Panthers GM. I politely disagreed. And who knew The Monster and Pete DeBoer are buds?

Wanna see where all the Free Agents are landing? TSN's got ya covered - though it's a few hours behind as of Saturday morning.

Hockey Canada has released its list of invitees for the 2010 Olympic tryouts; no Cats need apply. But seriously...if you were Stevie Y, who would you take among this bunch: Allen, Campbell, Horton, McCabe, Reinprecht, Stillman, Tarnasky, or Weiss?

Is Rochester's front office beginning to show some life? Keith at Let's Go Amerks! sees a few reasons which point in that direction.

Reports of the demise of Icethics - still one of the most unique hockey sites anywhere - have indeed been exaggerated. The bar-none home for uniform and logo news/concepts/fan art blazes on. From Chris:

"We have little information on the Panthers, but they are expected to be one of a handful of teams to debut new third (jerseys) in the fall. I fully expect more of the same from the Cats. In other words, a red sweater with the logo that features a stick-biting panther. If the Panthers were to try to exceed my expectations, they might try something completely different. Perhaps a new logo featuring the profile of a big cat on a red jersey with a unique design. But I think we all know not to set our goals too high."

Keep it bookmarked; the updates will increase as summer rolls on.

The Dallas Stars 2008-2009 season by the numbers

Brandon Worley — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:46:00 -0000

More photos » by LM Otero - AP

Mike Ribiero had a monstrous season for the Dallas Stars, leading the team in assists and points.

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Leading into our comprehensive Dallas Stars season retrospective this week, here are the final numbers from the year. This includes each individual player's final stats, a quick comment on their season and then a look at the overall team numbers and rankings. I was contemplating doing separate analysis and grades for each player but at this point I think we all have a good idea on who shined and who did not. This past season was more about how these players responded to advesity (or didn't), how we learned about how important goaltending truly is in hockey, and how Steve Ott needs to be the only Steve Ott-type player on the team.

This week, we'll have our three part series chonicling this past season. While we would prefer to just forget this season and move on, the best thing we can do is learn from what happened and improve upon it next season. Injuries were not the only reason the Stars failed to make the playoffs.

While the season didn't end how we had hoped, this was still a great year for certain individuals who broke out and proved to be key parts of this team for the future.

Follow the jump for the final numbers of the 2008-2009 season.

Player	Games	G	A	Pts	+/-	Shots	PIM	Comment
Mike Ribeiro	82	22	56	78	-4	163	52	The Stars best offensive player, saw the most minutes per game of his career.
Loui Eriksson	82	36	27	63	14	178	14	Not just a threat offensively, led the team in +/- rating.
Brad Richards	56	16	32	48	-4	180	6	His value to the team became apparent once he was lost for the season.
Mike Modano	80	15	31	46	-13	197	46	Started season strong, but ended with just one goal in his 35 games.
Steve Ott	64	19	27	46	3	132	135	Showed he's much more than an agitator with career highs in goals and assists.
James Neal	77	24	13	37	-11	171	51	Had a breakout first season, finising second in the league among rookies in goals scored.
Matt Niskanen	80	6	29	35	-11	111	52	Started slow, but became a strong point on the blue line as the season progressed.
Brendan Morrison	81	16	15	31	3	111	32	Proved he could possibly be a valuable veteran next season.
Fabian Brunnstrom	55	17	12	29	-8	81	8	Once he adjusted, became one of the Stars best players in the final month; led the team in shot %.
Stephane Robidas	72	3	23	26	10	158	76	Thrust into the #1 D-man spot, struggled with fatigue down the stretch. Career high in assists.
Trevor Daley	75	7	18	25	2	104	73	Became much more well-rounded, career high in goals and points.
Jere Lehtinen	48	8	16	25	2	119	8	When healthy, proved once again is one of top defensive forwards in the NHL.
Brenden Morrow	18	5	10	15	-4	52	49	Sigh.
Darryl Sydor	73	3	12	15	3	73	18	Came in midseason and settled down a struggling defensive corps.
Brian Sutherby	59	8	7	15	1	67	71	Started quietly but quickly proved he's a valuable asset on the third and fourth lines. Signed 2-yr deal.
Mark Parrish	44	8	5	13	-3	46	18	Had big start, but struggled for most of the season.
Chris Conner	38	3	10	13	-5	34	10	Small, scrappy forward that impressed with his speed and tenacity.
Steve Begin	62	7	5	12	-6	90	42	Proved his value on a tenacious fourth line and on the penalty kill.
Nicklas Grossman	81	2	10	12	-8	60	50	Had a slow start, but showed he's capable of using his size and aggression to his advantage.
Toby Petersen	57	4	7	11	1	90	14	Who would have thought his loss would impact the team as much as Brad Richards'?
Krys Barch	72	4	5	9	1	27	133	Maybe he's more than a fighter: career high in goals and points.
Landon Wilson	27	2	6	8	5	34	21	Speed and versatility helped when the team needed it most.
Joel Lundqvist	43	1	5	6	-9	32	20	Injuries and lack of production spelled an overall disappointing season.
Andrew Hutchinson	40	2	3	5	-9	58	12	The Stars had a winning percentage when he played. Good, solid seventh defenseman.
Sergei Zubov	10	0	4	4	-4	15	0	Fought admirably to return from injury but wasn't able to stay on the ice.
Mark Fistric	36	0	4	4	-1	35	42	After returning from long stint in the AHL, did his damndest to be the second coming of Derian Hatcher.
Tom Wandell	14	1	2	3	-1	23	4	Showed good skill after long season in Sweden.
Garrett Stafford	3	0	2	2	0	5	0	Surprise callup at the end of the season; wasn't very noticeable, which is good.
Ivan Vishnevskiy	3	0	2	2	1	9	2	Impressed the Stars fanbase in just three games; the next Zubov?
Ray Sawada	5	1	0	1	-1	2	0	Showed his aggressiveness fits in perfectly with the Stars fourth line.

Player	GPI	Min	GAA	W	L	OT	SO	Sv%	Comment
Marty Turco	74	4327	2.81	33	31	10	3	.898	Career high in games started; also highs in GAA and goals allowed. (Not Good.)
Tobias Stephan	10	438	3.70	1	3	1	0	.870	Never instilled any confidence in coaching staff.
Matt Climie	3	185	2.92	2	1	0	0	.894	Shaky at times, but showed good potential for the future.
Brent Krahn	1	20	9.00	0	0	0	0	.667	Allowed three goals in mop up duty of his only NHL appearance.

Team numbers:

83 Points: Second lowest since moving to Dallas.
20 home wins.
16 road wins.
77 points by Dallas Stars rookies.
39 players suited up for the Stars.
15.4% on the power play. 27th in the NHL. 13th in 07-08.
78.6% on the penalty kill. 24th in the NHL. 2nd in 07-08.
251 goals against. 25th in the NHL. 6th in 07-08
224 goals for. 20th in the NHL. 9th in 07-08.
-11 overall for the season, 19th in the NHL. 4th in 07-08 at +20.
-27 goal differential. +35 in 07-08. The -62 drop was worst in the league by 42 goals. (-38 by the Canadiens)

Blue Jackets deal for Williams

James Mirtle — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:10:39 -0000

The Blue Jackets have acquired forward Jason Williams from the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for defenseman Clay Wilson and a sixth-round draft pick

Williams has played mostly on the right wing, but he can play center, too. He's a right shot and can play on the power play point. In 41 games with the Thrashers, he has seven goals, 11 assists and a minus-9 rating.

— Puck-rakers

Williams is a talented player, but really hasn't worked out in Atlanta. With so little talent to work with, they've given him junk linemates for the most part. The Thrashers' power play has been one of the few strong points this season, but Williams has been buried on the second unit, which hasn't been productive at all.

Columbus, meanwhile, has been horrific with the man advantage this year, regardless of who's out there, and Williams will get plenty of ice with quality linemates on the top unit. He did a nice job in Chicago playing the point, and the Blue Jackets are really light on puck movers on the back end, so expect him to reprise that role and start putting up points immediately.

For a team in the thick of the playoff race (and unable to take on major salaries), this is a good move.

On the Atlanta side: I saw Wilson play last year in person in Columbus, and he's got some nice tools. I think he'll be an NHL player in the near future, and given where the Thrashers are in the standings, it makes sense to build for down the line.