Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Options Author
An important win towards a prime rival. Rallying round their captain. Having enjoyable as they play – and win – stress video games.
Wednesday night time was a kind of nights to recollect for the Texas Stars, a workforce that went by way of important early-season struggles earlier than pulling themselves collectively and turning into one of many AHL’s most harmful golf equipment on this second half of the season.
Up 2-0 on the highway towards Milwaukee, the Stars allowed three straight targets to the Admirals, maybe their prime rival and their closest pursuer within the Central Division playoff race. However Texas held in there, tied the sport on defenseman Trey Taylor’s third-period objective, and finally outlasted the Admirals in a six-round shootout to drag out a 4-3 victory.
It was a cheerful ending to an evening after they celebrated captain Curtis McKenzie’s 800th professional recreation.
It was additionally an evening paying homage to final season, after they went forwards and backwards with the Admirals all season for the Central Division title earlier than ousting Milwaukee on the best way to the Western Convention Finals.
However this 12 months’s Stars membership is with out Justin Hryckowian, final season’s Dudley (Crimson) Garrett Memorial Award winner because the AHL’s excellent rookie. Similar with defensemen Kyle Capobianco and Alex Petrovic, who additionally earned promotions to the Dallas Stars. Head coach Neil Graham moved on to Dallas as an assistant. Matěj Blümel’s league-leading 39 targets left by way of free company.
For brand spanking new head coach Toby Petersen, who like McKenzie and assistant coaches Max Fortunus and Travis Morin received the Calder Cup with the Stars in 2014, it was rather a lot to beat early. Texas misplaced its first six video games of the season, and sat at 10-15-3-1 on the morning of New Yr’s Eve.
However a Dec. 31 recreation in Iowa might have turned across the Stars’ season. They survived the Wild scoring within the last minute of regulation that night time to pound out a 3-2 extra time victory. They’ve now received 13 of their final 19 video games, and enter the weekend tied with Manitoba for third place, 5 factors forward of Milwaukee.
Texas forwards Cameron Hughes and Kole Lind know what a particular workforce looks like; each went to the Calder Cup Finals in back-to-back seasons with Coachella Valley earlier than becoming a member of the Dallas group final 12 months. Hughes, who represented the Stars finally week’s AHL All-Star Traditional, leads the workforce with 44 factors this season. Arttu Hyry, who had 24 targets final season, is again from damage. Defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok returned to the workforce final month after a detour to Boston by way of waivers. And so they have Rémi Poirier has held tight many nights even when the workforce round him went by way of its early laborious instances.
Returnees from final season know that they will handle each video games and stress.
“For those who can play within the large moments,” Hughes mentioned, “like the large, high-pressure video games, then I feel when you will have regular-season video games, we are able to look again on these moments and make performs that approach.”
However all of that high-pressure know-how solely issues if a workforce is in competition.
Petersen’s group is again in Milwaukee for a rematch Friday night time, the final regular-season assembly between two groups on a collision course to satisfy within the postseason for the fourth consecutive spring. Then it’s on to Chicago for one more vital division match-up Saturday night time – the primary of seven remaining conferences between the Stars and Wolves.
However earlier than Texas can take into consideration the Calder Cup Playoffs, they need to first safe an invite. Hughes is optimistic as he continues to pursue his first Calder Cup championship.
“I like our depth,” the eighth-year professional mentioned. “I feel we’ve 4 strains rolling. We play at a fairly excessive tempo… We’ve some guys which have stepped up big-time into some large roles.”
On the American Hockey League beat for 20 years, TheAHL.com options author Patrick Williams additionally at the moment covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a daily contributor on SiriusXM NHL Community Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his excellent protection of the league in 2016.
