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Tickets from ticket master
The great experiment of moving center Mike Modano to the wing was a bust.
Now so is moving Jason Arnott to the wing.
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It's the same problem the Stars faced when they had Joe Nieuwendyk, Modano and Pierre Turgeon two seasons ago. Too many centers for only two top lines. Ticketmaster
Stars coach Dave Tippett tried Arnott on the wing in Thursday's 4-2 exhibition
loss to the Colorado Avalanche. Arnott said he had never played wing before.
And what Tippett saw on the videotape was the same thing he saw with Modano.
"He was all right [on the wing] but my feeling is that we didn't get enough
out of Arnott," Tippett said. "It was the same feeling with Modano.
Arnott needs to be a bigger factor in the game. As a wing, he can't be as big
of a factor."
So if Modano remains the top center and Arnott is the second-line center, where
does that leave Stu Barnes and Niko Kapanen? Ticketmaster
Kapanen likely remains the third-line center, pushing the versatile Barnes over
to the wing. But so far, Barnes has played well as a center with Turgeon as
his wing. And the Stars are trying to do anything they can to make Turgeon a
more productive player.
"He plays well both ways and finds openings," Turgeon said of Barnes.
"He is such a good player all around." Ticketmaster
So what is a coach to do?
Apparently, juggle and alter.
"It could change on any given night," Tippett said. "If we're
playing our third game in four nights, we want to make sure we have four lines
that compete and we don't want to extend anybody. Then it's a four-line team.
We might on other nights say our horses need to play a lot of time, and [we
need] an energy line to give us some spunk and a checking line." Ticketmaster
Lemieux clears waivers
As expected, the Stars made no moves during Friday's waiver draft as wing Claude
Lemieux cleared without any team claiming him.
Stars general manager Doug Armstrong said Lemieux's situation will be resolved
before the team reduces its roster to the NHL maximum of 23 players by Tuesday.
Lemieux could accept an assignment to minor league Utah or a buyout of his $2.5
million contract. It's most likely a buyout will be arranged, possibly as early
as today.
60-minute man
Goalie Marty Turco said he thinks he will play all 60 minutes of tonight's preseason
finale against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Though he missed the first few exhibition games suffering from a sore groin
muscle, Turco has played in 80 minutes so far this preseason, allowing five
goals.
The Stars' original plan was for Turco to play at least 120 minutes in the preseason.
"I'm confident he'll be ready," Dave Tippett said.