The Dallas Stars 99 AAA squad won three games and lost one in a shootout in their first outing as a new team. The team showed some explosive offense and a little glimpse of things to come for the rest of the 2008-2009 season.
The first game of the tournament, early Saturday morning of the Labor Day weekend, was against the Texas Aces- Reddington team. The boys were a little shaky in the first period as they tried to learn to play with their new teammates in game situations. At the end of the first period, the Stars were behind 1-3. However, the ramp-up period for the team seemed to level off signaled with an explosion of five goals in the second period, outshooting their opponent 14-7 in the period and taking a 6-5 lead going into the third. A hard fought defensive third period yielded no goals for either side and resulted in a 6-5 win for the Stars.
The next game was on Sunday morning against the Austin Roadrunners. The Roadrunners drew first blood with a goal in the first period, but the Stars answered back with a goal of their own five seconds later. That started a Dallas seven goal streak that put the game out of reach for Austin. The final score was 8-3 with four goals from William Stromp and three goals from Ben Fugger.
The third game was against the successful DJHA Penguins 98. The Stars skated hard and created an evenly matched battle at the end of the first period. DJHA scored in the second period to take a 1-0 lead heading into the third period. In the final frame Dallas turned up the heat outshooting the Penguins 13-0, and with less than two minutes left, Connor Szmul was able to find the net to bring the Stars even with the Pens. Although the Stars outshot the Penguins 26 to 10 in regulation, the game ended in a 1-1 tie and went to a shootout where DJHA was the only team to score, and therefore notch the win. The defense for both teams played fantastic. This game turned out to be the best game from a fan perspective as both teams played passionately.
The final game of the tournament on Monday paired the Stars up with the Ice Jets 99. In their first game against a team that was the same age, Dallas showed their dominance by scoring three goals in each period. The Stars cruised to an easy victory of 9-0, and allowed just three shots by the Ice Jets.
Overall, the Texas Shootout Tournament was a great start for the Dallas Stars 99 AAA team. The boys started to learn how to play with their new teammates and showed increasing confidence through each game. If this tournament is any indication, the 2008-2009 season promises to be an exciting one.
