NHL Turkey Awards
By JP Powell
.
Dallas Stars
Why They “Win”: Defense
There might be no bigger disappointment this season than the Dallas Stars. With the additions of Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky to the Dynamic Duo of Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn many NHL experts predicted that the Stars would be a top 10 team and could be a dark horse contender for the title. This was based on Spezza continuing his point-per-game production and Hemsky retaining the chemistry he displayed with Spezza in Ottawa at the end of last season. Other experts predicted, rightly, that the Stars would have defensive issues.
The defense has been porous, allowing 74 goals in 22 games, placing them 28th in the league. They have also allowed 698 shots on goal in 22 games. This suggests that not only are the Stars goalies (Kari Lehtonen and Anders Lindback) allowing the third most amount of goals, their defensemen are in the bottom third of the league in shot on goal allowed and struggle to keep the puck away from goalie. Not a recipe for success.
Note: The Stars defense has improved slightly since calling up John Klingberg and trading for Jason Demers, but they have a long road ahead of them.