2010-11 NHL Predictions/Previews: Dallas Stars
CappersPicks.com NHL Betting and gambling site provides the BEST Online hockey predictions for you to bet on for the 2010/11 NHL hockey season! Stick with us all season long!
Dallas Stars
Stanley Cup odds: 50/1
Change is the easiest way to describe the 2010-11 Dallas Stars. Long-time faces of the franchise Mike Modano and Marty Turco have moved on, leaving the Stars without an identity for the first time in over a decade. After missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, Dallas has a long way to go before seriously contending in the Western Conference again.
Dallas’ problems begin in the back end. The Stars ranked just 23rd in goals allowed last season. Turco’s play has certainly declined over the past two years, and he’s far less consistent nowadays, but Dallas is taking a big chance by letting him walk. His replacement is former Thrashers goalie Kari Lehtonen, who started 10 games for Dallas last year. Lehtonen has over 200 career starts under his belt, but he also owns a bloated 2.87 career goals against average. The Stars better hope he’s the answer, because only Andrew Raycroft—who has been tossed to the scrap heap by four teams now—stands behind him.
There are a few solid pieces on the blue line, but nothing earth shattering. Stephan Robidas is a nice player; he can move the puck and scored 41 points last year, and he’s respectable defensively. Youngster Niklas Grossman plays the purely defensive-minded role anyway, and he’s quite solid in that respect. Generally, though, this is a very average group at best, and on most nights it’s probably one of the weaker units in the NHL.
At least the offense picked up the slack. Dallas scored the 11th most goals in the NHL last season, and losing Modano certainly isn’t going to affect that total. Sure, Modano will be missed in the locker room, but he contributed just 30 points in 59 games last season.
Now, the offense belongs to Brad Richards. The former Tampa Bay star has gotten better and better in Dallas. Last season, he cranked out 24 goals and 91 points, giving him 150 points in 148 games since joining the Lone Star State.
Loui Eriksson scored 71 points last year, his fourth NHL season. The winger now has 65 goals over the past two seasons and looks like a real keeper. Dallas also has Brenden Morrow, a do-it-all, two-way forward. After that trio, however, there’s a considerable drop off in talent up front. Players like Mike Ribiero are serviceable, but you probably don’t want him in your top six.
One area for improvement second-year head coach Marc Crawford is already stressing is special teams. Dallas was pretty effective with the man-advantage, ranking 12th in the league when on the power play, but it was atrocious on the penalty kill. The Stars shut down their opponents just 77.4 percent of the time when killing penalties, good for fourth-worst in the entire league. It that number climbs a bit, it would probably put a few extra wins in Dallas’ pocket.
Dallas has missed the playoffs over two straight years and, besides jettisoning some locker room leadership, the club did nothing in the offseason. The Stars are hoping for some natural player progression, but the most this club can hope for is a seventh or eighth-place finish in the West and an early playoff exit.
NOTE: To all the Canadians visiting CappersPicks.com today! The Bodog.ca Sportsbook has a particular focus on Canada’s most popular sports: NHL Hockey and CFL Football. CHECK THEM OUT TODAY! CLICK HERE!!
