Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Features Writer
The Texas Stars are used to success.
After reaching the Western Conference finals a year ago, the Stars have made the playoffs 11 times in 14 attempts. They won the Calder Cup in 2014 and reached the Finals two other times. Being near or at the top of the Central Division standings is a pretty solid criterion.
But the team started the season on a six-game losing streak and ended the first third of the schedule on Dec. 12 with just eight wins (8-13-2-1).
To be sure, the Stars suffered some significant personnel losses this offseason. forward Matthij Blumel As a free agent, he scored a league-leading 39 goals for the Boston Bruins. Another striker, Justin HekovianAfter winning the Dudley (Red) Garrett Memorial Award as the AHL's most outstanding rookie last season, he graduated from the Dallas Stars. excellent defender Alex Petrovich and Kyle Capobianco Got a job in Dallas too. And the head coach Neil Graham Joined the parent team as assistant coach.
Overall, the coaching has been a very stable factor at Cedar Park. Back in 2014, they only saw Graham (2019-25) and Derek Laxdale (2014-19) On the bench for Texas. With Graham's promotion, the organization pivots to Toby PetersonWas a member of the 2014 championship team and led its AHL affiliate.
Maybe — just maybe — the stars will return. They have earned points in eight of their last 11 games (7-3-1-0), including a 2-0 road win over the dominant Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday night. Remy Poirier Led by 29 saves, Cameron Hughes and former griffin crosshanas With the score 51 seconds apart late in the half, Texas handed the Griffins their first regular-season loss in seven weeks.
Poirier made 30 saves to help the Stars beat Chicago 3-1 on Saturday and was named the Howies Hockey Video/AHL Player of the Week by the AHL. Despite a rough start to the season, the 24-year-old netminder has become one of the Stars' success stories. In his fourth season with Texas, the net is finally and undisputedly his. He's shouldered a workload befitting his stature: His 24 games rank first in the AHL, while his 1,355 minutes rank second. He maintains a record of 10 wins, 10 draws and 4 losses, with a goals against average of 2.57 and a save percentage of 0.911.
As a result, Texas improved to 15-16-3-1 and climbed into fourth place in the Central Division despite all its troubles. They were just three points behind the third-place Manitoba Moose and just six points behind second-place Chicago. The main source of difficulty this season, the power struggle among the stars, has begun to awaken; after the team made 6 of 72 shots in the first 25 games, it has since hit 7 of 26 shots on the power play.
Eight of their next 10 games will be at home to advance them to the AHL All-Star Game. In addition to quick visits to Rockford and Iowa State next week, the Stars can settle in at home starting tonight and Wednesday in Coachella Valley. Ontario, Henderson and Manitoba will also visit the HEB Center next month.
That said, building a stronger home rink will be a top priority. After starting the season with a 2-8-2-0 record at Cedar Park, the Stars have won four straight at home, with all four of those wins coming against opponents from Milwaukee.
The schedule for the second half of the year is also encouraging. Texas has just two games remaining against the conference-leading Griffins, one on the road at Western Michigan in mid-February. But the Wolves have seven games remaining and the Moose have four games remaining. Finishing in the top three in the Central Division means avoiding a best-of-three first-round series.
After such a difficult start, there is still a lot of work to be done. But Poirier's goaltending is outstanding, the team's high-powered offense is finding some life, and the Stars are settling in with their new head coach.
We'll find out next month just how dangerous this team could be down the stretch or even into the playoffs.
About two decades in the American Hockey League, TheAHL.com feature writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. In 2016, he received the AHL's James H. Ellery Memorial Award for outstanding coverage of the league.
