Loss to the Avs

Another pre-season loss, this time coming at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche.

However, I don't think Stars are in this pre-season to win. Rookie Matt Climie has been getting time in every other game, and while he's obviously not NHL ready, he has been able to show potential as a future NHL goaltender. Meanwhile, Marty Turco has been merely warming up.

Steve Ott should be able to reproduce last season's 11 goals and 22 points fairly easily; he's scored two pre-season goals so far.

Ryan Smyth is doing fine for Colorado in the pre-season. Now the Avs just have to hope he won't get injured, and he'll be able to get back to his normal playing standards.

Note: Raymond Sawada, who scored 9 points in 10 AHL games for Iowa last year, has been assigned to the AHL. This very likely means that both Fabian Brunnstrom and James Neal will play in the NHL this season. The Stars are weak at right-wing, and Sawada was expected to play on the fourth line straight out of Cornell University with only 10 AHL games of experience. However, now Brunnstrom will likely switch over to the right-wing, where he could get 3rd line playing time for the entire season. This would be especially good for the rookie, as he would play alongside Mike Modano and Joel Lundqvist. Modano's experience would actually be beneficial for Neal or Brunnstrom, depending on who switches over to the right side. The other will start out on the fourth-line left wing spot, and work their way up.