The Stars opened up training camp two weeks ago, and my son and I joined several hundred other fans in getting a peek at the 2008-09 Dallas team. There was a great energy in the Frisco practice facility, even though the activities on the ice were far from game-like.
They aspired to be as organized as a pick-up game of pond hockey. It doesn’t matter though; hockey is back in Texas, and for diehard puck fans like myself and the others in observance two Saturdays ago, it’s enough to plaster a day-long smile on your face.
Watching the “stick and skate” slowly morph into offensive drills and then settle down for an informal 40:00 scrimmage, you were immediately hit by one thing: this isn’t your father’s Dallas Stars team. In the course of just two seasons, the average age of the players has come down from nearly 34 to somewhere just shy of 28. And, with the infusion of some more youth pushing to make the team this year, it may come down further still.
What hasn’t changed is the Dallas Stars approach to hockey. Coach Dave Tippett still preaches the fundamentals of a “defense-first” system. Don’t look for the Stars to change their tune and start to look like the run-and-gun Pittsburgh Penguins of last year. The players may change, but the song remains the same. The addition of skilled players does allow the Stars to be more deadly on the offensive side of the blue line. But they won’t sacrifice defense to get there.
Early last week, Tippett announced that he’d like to play around with the way he’s using Mike Modano in the offensive scheme. This is a great time to try out new ideas, and Tip may have gotten the game-winner on this one. While Modano turned into a great two-way player under former coach Ken Hitchcock (maybe the best in the league), his talents are being wasted on the checking line, which is where he was assigned last season. Going against the other team’s top line, Modano is skating back to his own defensive zone most of the time, and looking to where he can stop a play from developing, rather than developing plays of his own.
The idea Tippett has, at least as an experiment, is to put Modano on a line with Brad Richards and Sean Avery, and see what chemistry can develop. With the speed of Modano and Richards, and the physicality of Avery in front of the net, things might get explosive quick.
I know I can’t wait to see how this trial plays out in the first few preseason games. As long as the replacement center on the checking line (most likely Steve Ott) can hold down their duties, I think this is going to be a very successful move.
