Colton Sceviour said he plans to get away from the game for a couple days before summer workouts. Photo by Christina Shapiro/Texas Stars
I caught up with Colton Sceviour, Alex Chiasson, Max Fortunus, head coach Willie Desjardins and assistant coach Doug Lidster today at the Cedar Park Center for some end-of-the-season interviews.
You can read that story here: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local/texas-stars-head-into-offseason-after-playoff-loss/nXxX
It was very interesting talking to Chiasson about his season and how his stint in the NHL helped him grow as player.
“It was good, we had exit meetings yesterday and I think it really was the first time I sat back and really soaked in what happened to me this year. I’m not going to take anything for granted, I got a taste of what it is like to be up there and that’s my main goal going into the summer … that they’re going to have to keep me.”
I’ll have a full story on Chiasson tomorrow, so I won’t go too much into that now, but he did clarify the team is not transitioning him to center. During the playoffs he was taking face-offs due to an undisclosed hand injury to Justin Dowling.
Speaking of hand injuries…
Matt Fraser played most of the playoffs with a broken finger, which could explain his lack of production during the playoffs after having an All-Star caliber regular season.
Sloan likely on the way out
This really comes as no surprise, but Lidster and Chiasson both talked about Tyler Sloan like he was a former member of the Texas Stars. Sloan is an unrestricted free agent this season and never really got his due, early in the season he was behind Cam Barker on the depth chart and was later buried behind a trio of defensemen acquired at the trade deadline (Joe Morrow, Kevin Connauton, Cameron Gaunce).
Fortunus was honored to be captain
Fortunus is an unrestricted free agent and the captain may not be a Texas Stars next season due to the number of defensemen in the franchise. He didn’t indicate which way he was leaning (or if he was told how the franchise was leaning), but he did reflect on being the Stars captain.
“It was an unbelievable honor,” Fortunus said. “That was my first time being captain of a professional team. Coming into the season I didn’t want my role to change (because of the captaincy). I was going to be the same guy in the room.”
Just getting away from the game
With the lockers cleaned out, several of the Stars players are taking the next couple days to relax and forget about the game before starting summer workouts.
“As tough as the season is on the body, it’s even tougher on the mind,” Sceviour said. “Especially after a playoff series like that, where your head is racing. So you try to get away from the rink and forgot about hockey for a couple days.”
No interview for Desjardins, yet
Desjardins hasn’t been interviewed yet and said he hasn’t been spoken to about the opening behind the bench in Dallas.
Dallas general manager Jim Nill told me last week Desjardins would get an interview, so it’s probably a matter of time before the discussion happens.
However, he did get a nice recommendation from Lidster and Sceviour on Monday.
“You never even realized it was his first AHL job,” Sceviour said. “Having spent some time with Dallas, he had already transitioned from coaching junior to coaching pro. He seemed so comfortable and seemed like he’d been there a million times before, that confidence definitely resonated in the room and that definitely felt good.”
Ice being melted down at the Cedar Park Center
Dallas Stars will play Edmonton in OKC
This was reported today by Tend the Farm. Dallas will also play a preseason game in San Antonio against Florida – the Rampage’s NHL affiliate.
It’s nice to see Edmonton move a preseason game to OKC, but attendance could/is going to be an issue. All 2,000 hockey fans that made it out to a playoff series-clincher against Texas can attest to that.
Wrong side of the red line 