(Best E Casino) - One season after a surprising march to the Western Conference finals, the
Dallas Stars open up their 2008-09 campaign with a home test versus the Columbus Blue Jackets at American Airlines Center.
The Stars ended last campaign with a 45-30-7 record and 97 points, which was good for just third place in a tough Pacific Division. However, that didn't stop the Stars from knocking off the two teams ahead of them in the postseason. Dallas, seeded sixth in the West, knocked off the fourth-seeded Anaheim Ducks in the opening round before handling the division champion San Jose Sharks in six games in the semifinals.
However, Dallas' run came to an end in the conference finals, with the club losing in six games to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings.
The main reason the franchise was able to make a run in the playoffs was the play of goaltender Marty Turco, who finally got over the hump in the playoffs. He posted a 2.08 goals against average and a .922 save percentage in 18 postseason contests after a 32-21-6 and a 2.31 GAA regular season.
The Stars will enter their first full season with Brad Richards on the roster. The club acquired the former Lightning center prior to the trade deadline, and he posted a franchise-record five assists in his first game with Dallas. He had just six points in his next 11 games, but totaled three goals and 12 assists during the postseason.
Making his Dallas debut tonight will be the feisty Sean Avery. The winger, best known for his ability to get under the skin of opposing players, notched 33 points in 57 games with the Rangers last year. His postseason did end early, though, due to a lacerated spleen.
Avery, along with 23-year-old rookie Fabian Brunnstrom, joins a Dallas core that still includes the all-time leading scorer among U.S.-born players in Mike Modano (21 goals, 36 assists), as well as Mike Ribeiro (27g, 56a) and Brandon Morrow (32g, 42a).
Though the Stars will start the season without veteran defenseman Sergei Zubov due to a hip injury, they still have Stephane Robidas on the blue line. The 31-year-old had nine goals and 17 assists last season.
Columbus, meanwhile, once again failed to make the postseason for the first time in team history, but the club hopes it made the right moves this offseason to change that.
The Blue Jackets, who finished fourth in the Central Division with 80 points and have yet to make the playoffs in eight seasons of existence, aimed to get forward Rich Nash (38g, 31a) some help this summer. The club succeeded, luring Kristian Huselius away from Calgary with a four-year, $19 million deal while trading for young forward R.J. Umberger.
Huselius had 66 points (25g, 41a) last year with the Flames and will take the place of forward Nikolai Zherdev, who was traded to the Rangers for a pair of defenseman.
Umberger (13g, 37a), meanwhile, upped his stock with a strong postseason with the Philadelphia Flyers that saw the 26-year-old net 10 goals in 17 postseason contests.
Though Columbus, which is beginning the season with three straight road games against Pacific Division opponents, lost defenseman Ron Hainsey through free agency, it did land Mike Commodore (3g, 11a) with a five-year deal while also getting Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman from the Rangers.
Netminder Pascal Leclaire will hope to follow up his solid 2007-08 season tonight. The eighth overall pick of the 2001 draft played in a career-high 54 games for the Blue Jackets last year, going 24-17-6 with a franchise-record nine shutouts along with a 2.25 GAA.
The Stars won three of four meetings with the Blue Jackets last year and have won 11 of the last 14 in Dallas in this series.
