A few weeks ago Steve Ott hopped onto the Twitter bandwagon and promptly introduced the world to the hashtag #PeskyStars.

It's turning out to be a very fitting description for this Dallas Stars team as they keep finding ways to win games and tonight was no exception as two goals in the third period pushed Dallas past the Ottawa Senators for a 3-2 win.

The Stars had fallen behind 1-0 after an Erik Condra goal midway through the first period only to have Steve Ott notch a rare Stars power play goal a couple of minutes later. After a grind-it-out second period that saw both teams only manage a grand total of eight shots, the third period saw much more action as the Sens again took a one goal lead thanks to a Milan Michalek goal that looked like it might have been the difference given how Ottawa starting goalie Craig Anderson (who always has seemed to have the Stars number in net) made a string of saves on some fine Stars scoring chances.

But the Stars true to their pesky nature didn't stop playing and after Radek Dvorak tied the game up at 2-2, Eric Nystrom potted the game winner by - as he has for pretty much all his goals so far this season - being in the right place at the right time.

Cap the night with a beautiful glove save by Andrew Raycroft off of a Daniel Alfredsson one-timer shot from about three feet away which is likely redemption for that second goal against which was equal parts bad play by Raycroft for directing a rebound right to Michalek and lucky / athletic play by Milan for leaping up and pulling the puck out of the air like he did. Overall Raycroft had a steady night stopping 33 of 35 shots against and now suddely he's won back-to-back games after not having won a game since seemingly the ice age.

Also suddenly the Stars themselves are on a bit of a tear again as they've collected 9 out of a possible 12 points over the last six games coming off that long losing streak.

How pesky of them.

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Kari Lehtonen has been placed on injured reserve by the Dallas Stars after suffering what coach Glen Gulutzan explained was a groin injury in the first period of last night's game against the Phoenix Coyotes.  Expect Kari to miss at least the next two games this coming week if not possibly more as it's likely the Stars will want to give Lehtonen enough time to fully recover from an injury that can linger if not allowed to heal property.

Kari's last injury suffered was a back issue that caused him to miss four games in mid December of last year.

Andrew Raycroft will be getting the next few starts in place of Lehtonen and Richard Bachman has been called up from the AHL Texas Stars to fill in backup duties.  Bachman is sporting a 7-5-1 record with a .887 save percentage and a 3.13 goals against average in 15 games with Texas this season.  Bachman did have a brief taste of NHL action last season playing a little over nine minutes and facing four shots against the Phoenix Coyotes back on December 11, 2010.

The Stars have also recalled forward Francis Wathier from the Texas Stars after Vernon Fiddler also suffered a groin injury in last night's game with the Coyotes.  Fiddler is being listed as day to day with the injury and it's unsure if he'll be in the lineup against Colorado on Monday.

Wathier has collected 5 goals and 7 assists in 12 games with the Texas Stars and also seen time with the big club playing in eight games but not collecting any points.

So the headline gives you the result and the 3-0 score against Dallas is pretty indicative of how the Stars played in all aspects of tonight's game in Glendale, which is to say that they did not play well at all, and that I feel is putting it mildly.

But obviously the big story tonight though isn't the result of the game but rather the injuries that keep piling up on the Stars.  Kari Lehtonen and Trevor Daley left in the first period - Kari listed as lower body and favoring his leg while Daley was listed as upper body and there doesn't seem to be a real definition of how or when exactly he was hurt. Vernon Fiddler left in the second period after taking a Sheldon Souray shot off the shin (you knew that was bound to happen at some point this season right?) and didn't return either.

But it was Kari's injury a little over five minutes into the first - on a long blue line shot that put the Coyotes offside just to be an extra kick in the teeth - that really took the steam out of the Stars game and while a few players - the usual suspects such as Jamie Benn and Souray - tried to generate some energy for the club but the rest of the club seemed to be lost in a haze and the Coyotes were more than happy to just let the Stars sleepwalk through 60 minutes and and do just enough offensively to escape with a win.

As a season rolls along some nights are bound to be rough for players and fans alike, but tonight was beyond that and felt more like a cruel joke being played on all of us.

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Tonight's starting goalie for the Stars, Kari Lehtonen has appeared to injured his leg early in the first period about five minutes in of the Dallas Stars game versus the Phoenix Coyotes after stretching out in a split legged position to stop a long shot from the blue line.  Andrew Raycroft - who had been scheduled to start Monday's Stars game - has entered the game in relief of Kari as Kari won't return tonight.

Defenseman Trevor Daley also left the game in the first period and has been ruled out of action for the rest of the game based on a report by the Dallas Stars PR twitter account.

As soon as we hear word or some sort of an update on Kari or Trevor's condition, we'll have it for you here.  In the meantime you can join us in in our live game thread to talk about tonight's game.

Dallas Stars @ Phoenix Coyotes

Saturday, November 26th, 2011 - 7:00pm CST

Jobbing.Com Arena

TX21, Listen Live @ stars.nhl.com

Time to go three for three against the mangy mutts...

If it's Dallas v Los Angeles, then it must mean it's time for yet another insane finish to a hockey game.

What else can you say about that game?  For Stars fans it felt like 57 minutes or so of absolute frustration and then a little over four minutes of sheer brilliance as the Stars rally in the third to tie and score in overtime to finally beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2.

It's not like the Stars had a poor night tonight on the ice as they did play a pretty solid game for all of 58 minutes of regulation and even going as far as out shooting the Kings. But it was a combination of a pair of Stars mental cramps within a minute of each other in the second period helped the Los Angeles Kings post a 2-0 lead and the goaltending of Jonathan Quick for whom you could be excused if you thought was the actual owner of the Stars based on his spotless record against them coming into tonight's game.

But Jamie Benn broke out of his slump early in the third and then with seconds remaining in the game and a face off just outside of the Kings offensive zone the Stars took a time out, Glen Gulutzan drew up a scoring play in the dirt and the combination of Michael Ryder, Steve Ott and Loui Eriksson pulled it off to perfection to tie the game up.

And then that magic in overtime...

I highly doubt the worlds greatest poets could effectively describe what the Stars did to pick up the game winner. Mike Ribeiro taking the term "take a hit to make a play" to a whole new level, Stephane Robidas with an absolute beautiful pass and Otter being in the right place at the right time as per usual to net the winning marker.

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Edmonton Oilers @ Dallas Stars

Monday, November 21st, 2011 - 7:30pm CST

American Airlines Center

FS SW HD, Listen Live @ stars.nhl.com

Time to look sharp boys... The new boss is watching!

For the fifth time in a row the Dallas Stars suffer a loss - this time by a 4-1 score to the San Jose Sharks - but your eyes do not deceive you for there is actually a crooked number where there had been a zero for the Stars over the last couple of games. Mike Ribeiro with the honors as he scored to make sure the Stars didn't go a whole ten periods without scoring a goal.

Happy days are here again?

As an added bonus, when the Stars played even strength tonight they were actually playing fairly well.  Grated they were still out shot and gave up one more goal than they scored while playing 5 on 5 (or 4 on 4), but compared to the previous four games it was a much better effort overall.

But two things were the Stars undoing tonight.  The Sharks power play which victimized the Stars two of four times was the biggest culprit but the Stars frustration that started to boil over midway through the second period was not much of a help to the cause either.

The last five minutes of the third were a clear demonstration that the Stars have had enough and aren't going to take it any more.

But for all the frustration on the ice, the Stars at least have to be a little happier with tonight's game right? Shots were a little more even, the emotion and energy was at a much better level. These are positives worth building on and a sign that the Stars may be close to snapping out of this funk sooner rather than later.

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San Jose Sharks @ Dallas Stars

Saturday, November 19th, 2011 - 7:00pm CST

American Airlines Center

TX21 HD / Listen Live @ stars.nhl.com

The NHL Rulebook states the following:

Rule 78.4 - A goal shall be scored when the puck shall have been put between the goal posts by the stick of a player of the attacking side, from in front and below the crossbar, and entirely across a red line the width of the diameter of the goal posts drawn on the ice from one goal post to the other with the goal frame in its proper position.

That sounds like a neat-o rule doesn't it?  Go Stars!

On a momentous day such as today was with the ownership issues now officially taken care of and in the past there has been lots of talk about how there is a bright future ahead for the Dallas Stars.

In the here and now however things haven't looked so great for the team, especially the offense which had gone stone cold over the last three games coming into tonight's action and didn't get any better in Denver as the Stars dropped a 3-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche for their fourth loss in a row.

Not only have the Stars lost four games in a row, they haven't scored a single goal in the last two games. In fact their scoreless stretch is over 170 minutes long as they last scored midway through the first period against Detroit last Saturday.

Yikes.

It was a case of the same old story for the Stars as the goaltending from Kari Lehtonen was quite good and gave his club a chance to pull out a win of some kind, the defense in front of him played ok in front of their net but still allowed Colorado to make it a shooting gallery all game long and the Stars offense consisted of mostly long distance shots that were easily handled by Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

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On a night where the Dallas Stars were out played, out hustled and out classed in all aspects of the game on the way to a 6-0 loss to the Florida Panthers, where does one start in trying to explain what exactly happened out there?

For instance, you know it was not a good night or a good game when the best thing I can say about the Stars play tonight is at least they didn't give up more than two goals in a period.

And they went 4 for 4 on the penalty kill... So there is that as well.

That sadly are the two most positive things I can say about the game tonight because every other part of it was just awful.

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Maybe tonight it's just best to say that the Dallas Stars may have had plenty in spirit, but the bodies once again weren't able to stay strong through all three periods tonight as the Detroit Red Wings poured it on in the third period and coasted to a 5-2 win.

As it was last night in Pittsburgh, the Stars did start off with the important first goal lead thanks to Loui Eriksson on the power play, and they were able to battle back in the second period to tie the game at 2-2 with a Brenden Morrow marker.  But outside of those two efforts, this game was mostly all about the Red Wings who dominated the game with good puck possession and a constant barrage of shots on Andrew Raycroft who got the start for the Stars and ended up falling to 0 and 3 for the season.

For the Stars, the killer four game road trip finishes at an even two wins and two losses which isn't bad all things considered, but it does feel like a bit of a let down considering how well they started.

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It was the top two teams in the NHL as the best in the west matched up against the beast of the east in Pittsburgh tonight.  Sadly the beast couldn't be tamed by the Stars as a former friend turned foe - James Neal potted two power play goals and the Penguins special teams and tenacious forecheck not to mention a suffocating defense when the Stars did manage to enter the offensive zone were way too much for the Stars to handle as Dallas drops a 3-1 loss to the Penguins.

It was a frustrating night for the Stars as the Penguins controlled play pretty much from opening puck drop.  Eric Nystrom did get the Stars off to a flying start putting the puck past Marc-Andre Fleury after taking a super slick behind-the-back pass from Radek Dvorak off the corner boards.

That my friends is where the good news ended for the Stars.

In addition to being virtually out everything'ed by the Pens tonight, Mark Fistric left the game in the second period after he took a deflected puck to the throat area but did return in the third.  Alex Goligoski left after the first period with the ever popular "upper-body injury" and did not come back.  No word on how severe the injury may be but it's likely the Stars may have to call up someone from the baby Stars in short order for tomorrow night's game against Detroit.

Overall a tough night that brings the Stars back down to earth a little bit, but as the saying goes "you can't win them all."

After the jump we look at a few more details of tonight's game.

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It has felt like it's been quite a while since we last had Dallas Stars hockey in front of us - and it has - so we delayed this week's edition of Ups And Downs until today to give us all a slight refresher on how the boys did last week.

A 2-1-0 still keeps the Stars near the top of the standings and it also keeps most players on the positive side of trends.  A few depth players however saw a bit of a slip in performance and could really stand to pick up their game...

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I don't expect that it will soothe all that hurts Dallas / Fort Worth sports fans right now, but this should help as the Dallas Stars grind out a 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night.  It was a game and overall team effort Joe Nieuwendyk should be proud of on a night where the Stars honored him and his Hall of Fame nod just before opening puck drop.

Loui Eriksson opened scoring, Vernon Fiddler picked up the game winning goal and Sheldon Souray added an empty net goal with a laser shot from about 400 feet away (I could be a bit off on that length) and with that the Stars record goes to 8-3-0 this season.  Kari Lehtonen was sharp yet again stopping 31 of 32 shots against.

The Stars now enter a bit of a break on a high note to mend some bumps and bruises - after all even though it's the Stars dishing them out, the hits they've been handing out still can cause some aches and pains.  Dallas is back in action on Friday against the Colorado Avalanche.

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Playing the Phoenix Coyotes at times - most times actually - is a study in frustration and tonight was no exception, but it at least ended in a positive manner as the Dallas Stars closed out their four game road trip with a 3-2 shootout win.  Trevor Daley scored the winning marker in the 8th round of the extra skills challenge.

The extra long shootout that featured 16 different players seemed quite fitting considering the game itself was a grind-em-out type affair that started off as a 1-1 contest in the first period thanks to Raffi Torres and Sheldon Souray trading goals, and looked to have turned sour for the Stars halfway through the third period when Shane Doan scored the 300th goal of his career for the Coyotes on the power play to take the one goal lead.

Adam Burish played the role of late game hero as he was able to shovel a loose puck past a sprawling Mike Smith who had up until that point turned away multiple chances.

Kari Lehtonen stays unbeaten this year with his seventh win stopping 33 of 35 shots during the game and another 7 of 8 attempts during the shootout.

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Even with the first loss in six games this past week you'll find that this edition of Ups and Downs is still trending positive for most players as the one loss the Dallas Stars did pick up was one where the whole team still played well short of not scoring an actual goal.

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If you like your hockey extra gritty and defensive with a hint of animosity and dislike, then tonight was your kind of night.  Of course if you're a Dallas Stars fan on top of all that then tonight wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been as it was the Los Angeles Kings with the 1-0 win on the strength of a late Jack Johnson goal and 28 saves by Jonathan Quick who notched his third straight shutout - not just against the Stars of course - which is nothing to sneeze at as a hockey fan.  Quick is easily the hottest goalie in the NHL right now and the Stars just couldn't solve him tonight - not that it was for lack of trying.

Andrew Raycroft got the start and was quite good stopping 23 of 24 shots against. Good, but sadly not "Jon Quick good" on this night. At the very least though he's had to have earned some trust points from the coaching staff and his teammates because for 55 minutes and two seconds, he was matching Quick save for save with good aggressive and well positioned netminding.

A loss is never easy to take but Stars fans should be encouraged by a result like tonight in terms of how the team played overall.

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Going into tonight's game we kind of tabbed this game as the Dallas Stars first real big measuring stick-like test on the road playing in a building where they've had issues getting a good result out of over the last few seasons.

After tonight you can consider this first test passed for the most part as they defeat the Anaheim Ducks of Mighty California Disneyland by a 3-1 score.

Loui Eriksson opened and closed scoring for the Stars and Mike Ribeiro added the game winner, but the story as it has been for the other wins was the play of Kari Lehtonen who had just another night at the office stopping 35 of 36 shots for the win - and I'm pretty sure he rescued a kitten or two from a tree during the intermissions as he was that awesome tonight.

It's been tough to fight the urge to see how good a start Dallas has gotten off to this season - now 6-1-0 - and not want to look over at the standings board, but it's ok if you can't help but take a quick peek over and notice that the Stars sit on top of the Western conference.

Just don't peek at it too long as there is another game and another big measuring stick test against another division rival in less than 24 hours....

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When your team starts the season with four wins and one loss, it's tough to be negative about much even if the way they got to that record was a little suspect at times.

It hasn't been a perfect start for the Dallas Stars and three of those four wins that they have earned in the first two weeks of the season certainly fall into the "gotten the hard way" category, but with three wins at home this past week that was concluded with a rather convincing if not dominating performance against the Blue Jackets, it's easy to feel good about this team and just how it will perform as the season progresses.

Week one we only had two games to draw a 'sample' of where the players on this team were at, but now we've had a couple of weeks and five games... That makes for a little bit of an easier job in being able to tell just who is starting the season off right, and who could use a little more practice time.

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Good night to be a sports fan in the Dallas / Forth Worth area tonight huh?

The Stars did their part to make sure it was a extra winning kind of night for local fans as they put together their first real solid sixty minute effort of the season and were rewarded with a 4-2 over the Columbus Blue Jackets.  Brenden Morrow, Loui Eriksson, Sheldon Souray and Michael Ryder (who picked up his first two points as a Dallas Star) were your goal scorers for Dallas.

Kari Lehtonen had a pretty quiet night in goal only facing 15 shots - a mere five in the final period - which in a selfish way kind of hurts his save percentage, but he does pick up his fourth win of the season.  It looks like he was stung by a high shot off his shoulder late in the game but all indications are he should be fine.

One week at home, three games played, three wins.  You can't ask for much better than that from a hockey team.

(After the jump we take a look at what we liked so much about tonight's Stars win)

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* whew *

It's safe to exhale for now as the Dallas Stars hang on for dear life and squeaked out a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.

A strong start for Dallas that staked them to a 3-0 lead midway through the game is going to likely be overshadowed by a rather poor finish by the team as it felt like the Stars opted to try a prevent defense for the last 30 minutes of the game.  Thankfully Kari Lehtonen was great yet again in stopping 36 of 38 shots improving his record to three wins and zero losses.  Loui Eriksson, Adam Burish and Brenden Morrow took care of the scoring for Dallas which improves it's record to 3-1-0 on the season.

As was the case in the first two wins however, while it's nice to have two points earned in regulation in the win column for Dallas, the fashion in which they earned them was rather ugly which of course leads to some conflicting emotions.

(Which we cover after the jump..)

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It would seem the Stars left the energy and tenacity they had on full display last night back in Dallas as the first road game of the season didn't exactly go as we had hoped. It was an ugly game in all aspects for the Stars as the Chicago Blackhawks made the most of their home opener with a 5-2 win.

Well at least the Texas Rangers had a playoff game so there couldn't have been that many eyes watching the brutality on TV...

What's that you say?  There was a rain delay right about the time the Hawks picked up two goals in the second period to really put the game out of reach and it's likely that fans flipped the channel at that moment to get a peak at the Stars?

Crap.

The final score you could say flatters the Stars some and doesn't tell the full story of how mental mistakes and lazy plays were their ultimate undoing tonight. Andrew Raycroft completely whiffing on what should have been a glove save for the Hawks second goal. Steve Ott carelessly swinging his stick shoulder level and taking a high stick penalty that killed any momentum the Stars got when they tallied their first goal. The Stars not covering Jonathan Toews coming out of the penalty box which of course resulted in a breakaway chance and what ended up being the game winning goal. The too many men penalty in the third that was sloppy and again killed any chance the Stars had to make things interesting minutes after a Steve Ott goal made it 4-2.

And so on and so on...  It wasn't a pleasant way to spend the first Saturday night of the season for Stars fans.

(More thoughts in our post game thread, and be sure to check back later for more details in a full recap!)

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As the Dallas Stars started the 2011 / 2012 season with a 2-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks, Ted Price, who is the valued producer of our Stargazing Puckcast, said it best midway through the opening contest tonight between the Dallas Stars and Chicago Blackhawks:

"No clue how this team will finish, but they sure will be a lot of fun to watch."

Couldn't have said it better myself, but the win sure makes games like tonight that much sweeter.

While the performance of Kari Lehtonen in picking up the 37 save win and Jamie Benn along with Alex Goligoski scoring goals for the Stars were the highlight of tonight's win, the defense and transition game out of the Stars zone is looking to be a bit of a work in progress for Dallas as they were pinned in for lengths of time in their own zone. It was that inability to get out of their zone that ultimately cost Kari what would have been a well earned shutout and made things a little too close for comfort at the end of the game.

But the bottom line is the Stars showed a ton of tenacity tonight at home in front of a pretty good and lively crowd and have now hopefully set the tone on just what we can expect nightly. I somehow doubt the Stars will go 82 and 0 for the season, but as Mr. Price so aptly pointed out I think we'll be good with 82 games worth of this kind of effort.

After the jump we take a closer look at some of the finer points of tonight's contest...

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Last season, we took inspiration from (aka: delicately ripped off) fellow SBN Hockey sites such as Japers' Rink and Silver Seven, and introduced a new feature known simply as "Stars Ups & Downs" as a way to track the week to week trending progress of each Dallas Star based against how they performed the week before compared to what we expected from that player through the season and how they had been doing in previous weeks.

We are happy to bring this feature back starting this coming Monday and every Monday this season, but with a few minor changes this year to give it our own personal Defending Big D touch which you'll be able to check out after the jump...

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Right off the top lets remind ourselves that it is pre-season NHL action.  The stats don't really count, the final result doesn't factor into any kind of playoff race and presumably half the players on the ice for both sides might not even be in the opening night lineup in a matter of a couple of weeks... 

That all said though, watching the Dallas Stars beat the Montreal Canadiens by a score of 6-3 was still pretty sweet right?  Six different goal scorers for Dallas...  Brenden Morrow, Adam Pardy, Michael Ryder, Krys Barch, Matt Fraser and Mike Ribeiro.

Right off the bat we were treated to a bit of a different look compared to last season as the Stars started quick with three goals in the first period and were all over the Habs in the first 20 minutes.  Included in those three goals were signs of what's to come under Glen Gulutzan with aggressive forechecking leading to some prime scoring chances.

After Barch scored to start the second period and make it a 4-0 Stars lead, the game saw the tide turn a little as the Canadiens took control and rally with three goals within the next five minutes to make it a much closer contest with the third of those three goals coming after a very lengthy bit of pressure by the Habs that pinned the Stars defense down and made starting goalie Andrew Raycroft a human target before giving up a goal.  

It was a mid-game goaltending change for both teams - as is what usually happens in these pre-season games - that helped settle things down for the Stars.  Ribs tallied a second power play goal to put the Stars up by two after he tipped in a nice slap pass from Alex Goligoski on the point.

The Stars put together a fairly even third where the Stars focused on locking things down in front of goalie Tyler Beskorowany, who himself had a nice game in a relief role.  Matt Fraser capped things off with the Stars sixth goal after a very impressive bull rush to the net by him and his linemates Francis Wathier and Travis Morin (who themselves had a pretty good night also).

More thoughts on tonight's game after the jump...

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Defending Big D concludes it's look towards the 2011-2012 season and the Dallas Stars' Pacific Division competition.  Today we look at the team that has pretty much had full ownership of the Pacific division title since the mid 2000's, the Minnesota Wil... err..  San Jose Sharks.

Major Subtractions:

Heatley is obviously the biggest name on this list and while casual observers might have been shocked that the Sharks would give up a forward which up until last season was a consistent threat to score 40 or more goals a year, his dip in performance and overall stats last year made him expendable while his trade value was still quite high.  The Sharks had tremendous depth at forward last season with him and Setoguchi and while the cost of those two players for Brent Burns may have been a tad steep, the exchange for an all-star defenseman may have been well worth it.

Major Additions:

The Sharks felt a need to upgrade their defensive core and make it a much tougher group to play against this offseason.  With the additions of Burns who is a legitimate top line defenseman on any NHL club and Colin White who is one of the league's better stay-at-home defensemen.  Havlat is streakier than Heatley has ever been and hasn't put up the kind of goal scoring numbers Heatley and Setoguchi have, but the Sharks hope a shift to a more offensive minded club can help boost his numbers.  The gritty Handzus fits in perfectly  with the Sharks new commitment to be a tough team to line up against.

Big Question Mark:

The saying is "defense wins championships" and there is no doubt the Sharks now boast a tough and talented six man unit that is as good as any other team's in the NHL, but was too much team offense at the forward lines sacrificed to bolster the defense?

After the jump, Fear The Fin gives us their take on the Sharks summer and just what we can expect from the boys in teal this coming season.

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Over the next month, Defending Big D will be counting down the most important "impact" players for the upcoming season for the Dallas Stars. Starting from the player we believe will have the smallest influence on this season to the player with the most, we'll countdown from #23 all the way to the top as we get ready for what we hope will be a very promising season.

Adam Pardy was one of the group of players signed by the Stars on July 1st and while his two million dollar a year over two years deal raised a few eyebrows if for no other reason than outside Flames fans and observers, not many people know a lot about the 27 year old defenseman and the deal did seem to come out of left field even though the Flames signed him to a two year 1.4 million dollar deal after his rookie season, knowing full well a player his age and physical ability would warrant a bigger contract in the open market.

The one thing Stars fans should know above all else is that Pardy fits GM Joe Nieuwendyk's mantra of being "tough to play against" as his 173 hits in 147 games played over the last three NHL seasons will attest.  Pardy is known as a rugged, stay-at-home defensemen that won't hesitate to throw his weight around, but it's that rugged play that took a toll on his body as he missed most of the 2010-11 season with a nagging shoulder injury that he had surgery on back in February.

But if he can remain healthy and on the ice, Pardy has no problem chewing up minutes on the blueline as he's averaged a little over 15 minutes per game over his three seasons.  He can also play special teams although his puck moving ability - or lack thereof - may prevent the Stars from leaning on him down a man this season.  Of course if his penalty minute numbers are any indication - 24 PIMs over 30 games played with all of them being minor penalties - that as well may limit his chances to help the Stars take care of the penalty kill.

Pardy's offensive numbers have been pretty much non-existent as he's only had 4 goals and 22 assists in his three seasons with the Calgary Flames.  In joining the Stars Adam looks to take on a bigger role than he had with the Flames and under coach Glen Gulutzan who is likely familiar with Pardy's ability during Adam's brief stint with the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL in 2005 - he will be given a chance to prove he can be more than a 5th or 6th defenseman for the Stars.  Even if Adam can't crack the top two defensive lines, at the very least he is still a very solid upgrade defensively over what the Stars have had the last few seasons.

Rankings wise, the fact Pardy is one spot higher than say Mark Fistric who we just profiled at number 17 is pretty much a result of the fact that Pardy is known as a very sound, positional defenseman who does not over commit on a play and rarely loses his man when covering in his own zone.  While Fistric is entering his fifth NHL season while Pardy is just entering his fourth, Adam may be asked to help lead the way for a younger in age Fistric and show him how a player with a similar size and build can be effective in reading and recognizing a play then eliminating an opposing forward with a hard hit.

Depending who you ask and maybe even depending on the time of day, opinion on Mark Fistric's growth in his first four seasons with the Dallas Stars varies.

Many a Stars fan this past season lamented the fact that Fistric often found himself in the press box as a healthy scratch under Marc Crawford's coaching when he was often thought by fans of to be a better option to take up a spot in the nightly lineup over the likes of a Jeff Woywitka.  Those fans would cite his impressive and somewhat intimidating physical play as the main reason why Mark should have seen more than just 57 games with the Stars last season even though some of that missed time can be attributed to a back injury that took him out for 10 games.

But with that hard nosed physical play came a downside that Fistric's detractors would point to - and maybe Marc Crawford himself - which would be his tendency to misplay a situation in his own end and at times lose the man he was covering leading to a better chance on goal for opposing teams than what they would have had if Fistric had been a little more patient and not over anxious to eliminate someone with a tough hit.

Add to the mix a tendency to not have the best foot speed and issues covering some of the quicker forwards he would go up against on a nightly basis and you may have reasons 1a and 1b as to why Crawford felt it was better to keep the young Fistric off the ice.

If 2009-10 was a bit of a breakout season for Mark with him picking up 10 points and being a team high +27 (a stat that put him in the top 10 of all NHL players), this past season was a let down as his point total dropped by half and his -10 put him at the bottom of the team leaderboard.

Coming into the new season Fistric will be given every chance to redeem himself and show that he can be relied on to be the physical stay-at-home defenseman that Stars are hoping he will be on a regular basis.  He will most likely be paired on defense with either Adam Pardy or even Sheldon Souray - two defenders known for their physical play, but also known to have shown composure and a little bit better ability than Fistric has to read and react to plays developing in their own zone.

Season number five will be a big one for Mr. Fistric.  He will have a chance to prove that he can be a solid top four defenseman or risk seeing more time in the press box than he or his fans would care to have him face.