Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Features Writer
The Texas Stars tend to win.
The Western Conference reached the finals last year, and the Stars finished the season in 11 of 14 attempts. They won the Calder Cup in 2014, and have reached the final twice. Being near or at the top of the Central Division standings has been a pretty reliable standard.
But the team came out of the gate on a six-game losing streak this season, and had just eight wins (8-13-2-1) through the first third of its schedule on Dec. 12.
In fact, the Stars lost the most personnel of the season. Forward Matěj Blümel took his league-leading 39 goals to the Boston Bruins organization as a free agent. One ahead, Justin Hryckowiangraduated from the Dallas Stars after winning the Dudley (Red) Garrett Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding rookie last season. Outstanding defenders Alex Petrovic again Kyle Capobianco found roles in Dallas. And a great coach Neil Graham joined the parents’ club as an assistant coach.
Coaching in general has been a remarkably consistent feature at Cedar Park. Going back to 2014, they only saw Graham (2019-25) again Derek Laxdal (2014-19) running the Texas bench. With Graham’s promotion, the organization turned to him Toby Petersena member of that 2014 championship team, to lead its AHL affiliate.
And maybe – just maybe – the Stars are back. They have earned points in eight of their last 11 games (7-3-1-0), including a stunning 2-0 victory over the reigning Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday night. Rémi Poirier led the way with 29 saves, Cameron Hughes and former Griffin Cross Hanas got 51 seconds apart late in the middle period, and Texas handed the Griffins their first regulation loss in seven weeks.
Poirier came back with 30 saves to pace the Stars in a 3-1 win at Chicago on Saturday, earning the Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week nod in the AHL. The 24-year-old striker has emerged as one of the Stars’ success stories despite the start of the season. In his fourth season with Texas, the net is finally and undoubtedly his. And he’s taken on the responsibility of matching his status: his 24 appearances lead the AHL, while his 1,355 minutes rank him second overall. He owns a 10-10-4 record to go along with a 2.57 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.
So Texas, for all its troubles, has improved to 15-16-3-1 and moved up to fourth place in the Central Division. They are three points behind the third-place Manitoba Moose and trail second-place Chicago by just six points. The strong performance of the Stars, which is the main cause of difficulties this season, has started to wake up; after going 6-for-72 in the team’s first 25 games, the power play has gone 7-for-26 since then.
Eight of their next ten games will be at home to take them into the AHL All-Star break. Aside from a quick hop to visit Rockford and Iowa next week, the Stars can settle in at home starting with a visit to the Coachella Valley this evening and Wednesday. Ontario, Henderson and Manitoba are also visiting the HEB Center next month.
That being said, establishing the existence of the strongest domestic ice will be the first task. The Stars have won four straight home games after starting the season 2-8-2-0 at Cedar Park, all four of which were against their Milwaukee rivals.
The second half schedule is encouraging, too. Texas has just two games left against the league-leading Griffins, a trip to Western Michigan in mid-February. But seven contests remain with the Wolves and four remain with the Moose. A top-three finish in the Central Division means avoiding a best-of-three first-round series.
There is a lot of work to be done after such a bad start. But Poirier’s goal is still there, the power play is getting life, and the Stars are settling in with their new coach.
The next month could tell how dangerous this team can be and – maybe – even before the season.
In the American Hockey League for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams and currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for the league’s top scorer in 2016.
