Late Friday night in your typical East vs West non-emotional
game; with one cheap-shot the Western Conference playoff picture might have
changed. Florida’s Dmintri Kulikov did his best Bryan Marchment impersonation
on NHL star Tyler Seguin (who today was placed on IR) with a low bridge hit.
While the injury status is in the
air about Seguin, TSN’s Bob Mckenzie is hearing 3-6 weeks. "It's a
dirty shot,,” said Stars coach Lindy Ruff after Friday’s win. "You
end up taking your best player out. Not only out of the game, but he's taken
him out of the lineup for a little bit.”
Where to go from
here?
The Dallas Stars is 3 points behind
Calgary (2nd wildcard) but is also 1 point behind Minnesota &
currently tied with the defending champions LA Kings. From bad to worse the not
only lost Seguin but also lost top six forwards Ales Hemsky & Patrick Eaves.
The Stars do have some players in the
minors for now that can patch things up but they are not long term solutions.
Now does appear Hemsky’s injury is minor one he might be able to play through.
Unconfirmed but one must assume the
Stars priority has gone from getting a top four defenseman to getting immediate
assistance for the top six forwards. Do they go all out and go after a Chris
Stewart, Antoine Vermette or a Joffrey Lupul; or obtain players that do not
require as much in return Michael Ryder,
Martin Erat or Jiri Tlusty.
I suspect the Stars will not go all
out and will go after one of the last three players named. They will then fully
decide March 2 to become full buyers or become sellers. If they do sellers look
for Cole, Horcoff, Enroth, Eaves to become available.
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