Stars have big bucks sitting in press box

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This article was published 24/10/2016 (2739 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DALLAS — It’s early but the Dallas Stars are in the midst of an injury crisis you’d be hardpressed to top.

Six NHL regulars were missing from the club’s lineup Tuesday night, many of whom are high-end offensive talents. That meant players with a combined cap hit of US$23.983 million were watching from the press box.

Veteran right-winger Ales Hemsky, who returned to the club’s lineup Saturday after missing four games with a groin problem, aggravated the injury and was placed on injured reserve. Centre Cody Eakin (knee), centre Mattias Janmark (knee), right-winger Patrick Sharp (concussion-like symptoms) and right-winger Jiri Hudler (flu) were already on IR.

Meanwhile, centre Jason Spezza (undisclosed) was also scratched while right-winger Patrick Eaves (lower body) returned to the lineup after missing one game.

“We have the most injuries I’ve seen in a long time, maybe since I’ve been a Dallas Star,” said star centre Tyler Seguin following the club’s pre-game skate Monday morning. “We have a lot of injuries and it’s an opportunity for — I don’t want to say younger guys because they’re around my age – a lot of guys to step up. Obviously, the leaders have to lead by example here.”

Seguin hasn’t been exempt from the injury woes. He suffered a hairline fracture of his heel while with Team Canada at the World Cup of Hockey and skipped the tournament. His regular linemate in Dallas, all-star Jamie Benn, underwent off-season surgery for a core muscle injury and was also unable to play for Canada.

“I feel good,” said Seguin. “Probably the best I’ve felt since getting hurt. I’m fully clear of my most recent injury and feeling good right, so I want to get things going here.”

Said Benn: “It’s an interesting start to the season but personally, I feel fine out there. And it’s a great opportunity for myself to play a bigger role and step up my game. I don’t think there should be any panic. We still have a good team, put a good team on the ice. It’s up to us as players to step up.”

Thorburn in, Connor out

Veteran Chris Thorburn dressed for his second game of the season and rookie winger Kyle Connor missed his first in six regular-season games Tuesday.

Sitting Connor, a highly touted off-season signing who had an assist and was averaging 14:23 of ice time per game, was not a decision Jets head coach Paul Maurice took lightly.

“He was skating well,” said Maurice. “Part of the whole process keeping everybody in. It’s unusual that a first-year player runs 82 (games). There’s a lot of instances were these guys come out and they do gain a lot – now that they understand the game a lot better – they can benefit from watching a hockey game.”

Connor was not struggling with his defensive responsibilities, Maurice said.

“His defensive reads have been very strong,” said Maurice. “He hasn’t made any more defensive mistakes than the veteran players on our team, so we like that. We know he’s an offensive player. What we want him to see is the places you can use that (offence) in the game and the places that you can’t.

“It was true of (sophomore winger) Nik Ehlers as well last year and this year and it’s true of veteran offensive players. But when young guys come in, first of all they’re used to a higher rate of creation of offence from where they came because they were able to. And it’s a completely different style of game from what they’re used to. So, fitting his offensive game is more of a challenge right now for Kyle.”

Extra care is being taken to ensure Connor will learn from the experience. The 19-year-old tore up the NCAA at the University of Michigan last season and sitting out is clearly something he is unfamiliar with.

“We’ve taken an awful lot of time making sure the explanation is clear and understood and there’s a plan in place going forward, said Maurice. “You can never guarantee a guy is going back into the lineup but we’re not going to have him watch a lot hockey games, that’s for sure. To be honest with you, we try to take that amount of time with older players, too.”

Laine watches, learns

First-year winger Patrik Laine was a interested spectator at the Stars’ pre-game skate, getting a close look as Tyler Seguin launched a series of his patented one-timers at the end of the morning workout.

“He’s a good shooter and a good goal scorer so you wanna watch those guys who can score,” said Laine. “He looked pretty good.”

Wheeler keeps his focus

Jets captain Blake Wheeler doesn’t want to hear about the injury problems in Dallas.

“I honestly don’t even know about any of the injuries,” said Wheeler. “I worry about our group… I’ve been pretty caught up in what we’re trying to do here and haven’t paid much attention to it. We know they have a lot of firepower over there, regardless of who’s out of the lineup so to it’ll be a tough matchup.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14