CEDAR PARK, Texas — After a dismal 2011-2012 season, the Texas Stars have nowhere to go but up. While it’s always difficult to judge potential performance by the results of exhibition games, last night’s 7-2 mauling of the Houston Aeros gives hope.
The Stars looked good in all aspects of the game, especially on special teams. They kept the Aeros scoreless on four power plays while scoring four power play goals of their own. They fore-checked well, spending a lot of time in the offensive zone, especially in the final period. Their passing looked crisp for the most part.
“There were lots of good things tonight,” Head Coach Willie Desjardins said. “We were a little lucky on the power play and that was the difference tonight. I think we have lots of depth. There are a lot of guys who didn’t play that are good players in camp. All of the spots are up for grabs.”
Wathier scores (photo by Mitch Cooper)
“We worked hard and stayed disciplined,” Stars’ forward Francis Wathier said. “We tried to move the puck a lot (on the power play) and it is working. We’re moving and shooting the puck a lot and trying not to do tricky plays, throwing everything on net and crashing a lot of men.”
Stars’ goaltender Jack Campbell stopped 22 of 24 shots, including a couple of breakaway attempts and looked in mid-season form. Aeros’ goaltender Darcy Kuemper stopped 18 of 25 shots.
“It’s great to get that first game under our belts, especially with the win,” Stars’ goaltender Jack Campbell said. “Our defense is just spectacular. Just the way our forwards help out like Sceviour blocking a shot (and getting hurt). The D did their job and made it easy for me.”
Campbell was especially effective on the penalty kill.
“Our mindset is to keep everything to the outside,” Wathier said. “Our goalies are really good at stopping shots from the outside and we’re making sure there are no grade ‘A’ shots coming from the middle.”
Some of the oddities of the pre-season opener included both goalies playing the entire game, no real fights (one minor skirmish) and the weirdness of the new hybrid offside’s rule, which was blown a couple of times, leading to center ice face-offs. It will take a little adjustment on everyone’s part to get used to that rule.
Sceviour left the game near the end of the first period after blocking a shot and did not return.
“We’ll have to wait and see,” Desjardins said. “But it looks like he’s going to be out for a little while.”
Everyone left the arena with high hopes, but cautiously optimistic.
“We have high hopes this year,” Wathier said. “We want to leave a legacy and that’s the way we want to do it all year. This is the way we play for the next exhibition games, the (regular season) and the playoffs. Coach sent us a message before the game and if you want to stay on the team, you listen to him. He has a goal and it’s to win the (Calder) Cup.”
Contact the writer at: mitch.cooper@prohockeynews.com
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