October Surprises

It's never a bad time to overthink your Dallas Stars opinions. But with a new year just around the corner, and the Stars looking like an inevitable playoffs contender once again, it's a good time to fire up the special holiday hot-takery bakery. Wes and Mark are on the case, but then again, they're always on the case. In this episode, they discuss: the Tyler Seguin injury, the quiet advent of Oskar Bäck, the meat and potatoes of the Miro Heiskanen-Matt Dumba pair, the historical impact of letting Alex Goligoski walk, Jim Nill, and what becomes a legend most, and so very much more. All this, plus Mark's latest Dallas Stars trivia question, can be yours! Just hit that play button. This is Stargazing – brought to you by BetOnline. What can the Stars do with Seggy's LTIR cap space? Tell us at Defending Big D. We’ll talk about your ideas in a future cast. (No, really!) And please don't forget to leave a tip in the form of a like, review or share. Thanks for listening!

As a team, the Dallas Stars are building a fine season. But as an organization, they're building fine seasons in all their affiliates, and over time as well. And a couple of times a year, we like to take a closer look at how that's working for them. In case you've just met Mark Zimmerman, he can talk about the Texas Stars all day – but it's more fun to listen when he can bounce off someone who has as much passion for Cedar Park hockey as he does. For that, he's joined by Stephen Meserve, founder of the seminal T-Stars news site 100 Degree Hockey and co-author of We Win Here: The Definitive Essays You Need About The Texas Stars. In this episode, they discuss the players to watch, the state of the feeder leagues, and the organizational depth the Dallas Stars organization has been working to build. They also measure the Texas Stars as a Calder Cup playoffs team, and how that will help the big team in Big D during a deep Stanley Cup run. Been wondering if FloHockey TV is worth getting? We discuss that, too. This is Stargazing – brought to you by BetOnline. What do you want to know about the Stars organization? Tell us in the comments. We'll use them in a future cast. (No, really!) By the way, here's a link about that "ECHL Unfiltered" series on the Idaho Steelheads. And a trailer, while you're here. One more thing: Please give us a rate, review or share wherever you listen. We love you all.

The Dallas Stars are in a pretty good place right now. They're in Stanley Cup playoffs position as Thanksgiving approaches, if that old measuring stick still means something. But even so, are they living up to their own outsize expectations? As the only podcast that didn't get invited to Finland last week, Stargazing has been stewing in its long-distance thoughts about that. Wes and Mark have questions: How reliant can the Stars afford to be on the Tyler Seguin-Matt Duchene line? While we're on the subject, is Tyler Seguin a wizard? Should we be worried that there are NHL netminders who have more goals than Miro Heiskanen does this season? What will it take to get Jason Robertson going at full speed? What's holding the rest of the roster back? And so many, many more. Will the Stars find another gear before the end of the year? Discuss it with us. We’re Stargazing, and we’re brought to you by BetOnline. What do you want to see as the quarterpole approaches? Tell us at Defending Big D, or DM us @WesALawrence or @KETibbetts on the short app. (We’re still there, but only for you. Don’t leave us hanging.) And please give us a rate, review or share wherever you listen. We love you all, always.

October is over for the Dallas Stars. They're sitting comfortably near the Central Division's top spot. They have an appointment on the world stage with the 2024 Stanley Cup champions. And this may not even be as good as it gets this season. So...what's wrong with this picture? As we wait with bated breath for the NHL Global Series, Wes and Mark took a close look at how the Stars started the season – and whether their hot start is sustainable. In this episode, they discuss: how luck has factored into the Stars' power-play resurgence, the one positional lack that hampers the first unit, what stickwork will do for Mavrik Bourque's ability to stick his landing in the NHL, the right way to think about Oskar Bäck's skill set, why the fourth line has become a difference-maker, the issue with the faceoff percentage, and why time may be the only thing to fix it, how the Central Division is putting the #MurderDeathKill back into the all-important competition for playoff spaces, and so very much more. Will the Dallas Stars and the Florida Panthers bring the Thunderdome to Tampere? Get your Auntie Entity GIFs ready, just in case. We’re Stargazing, and we're brought to you by BetOnline. What’s your take on the Stars' season so far? Tell us at Defending Big D, or DM us @WesALawrence or @KETibbetts on the short app. (We’re only there for you. Don’t leave us hanging.) And please give us a rate, review or share wherever you listen. It'll be the best Halloween treat ever. We love you all.

The Dallas Stars begin their regular season today! It's the perfect time to talk about (almost) everything that could go wrong. Wes and Mark have something of a feel for adversity, and in Stargazing's annual Doomcast, they let most of their darkest thoughts roam free in the pre-Halloween hellscape. We do have rules, sort of. We'll never include injuries to specific players in our contemplation of worst-case scenarios. But that just leaves sleep-disturbers like these at the top of the menu: What happens if the entire defense rides on the ability of the right side to overachieve? How do the Stars deal if it takes weeks – or months – to put together a top line that works? Who's left in Cedar Park if they still can't find their scoring mojo? What if Jake Oettinger has another uneven season and Casey DeSmith can't pick up the slack? What if they struggle with finding a team identity, either as an offensive threat or a defensive stalwart? And so very much more. What worries you more, the penalty kill or the power play? You've all been dreading it. We're just talking about it. We're Stargazing. And you can thank BetOnline for making that possible. What’s your biggest irrational fear for the season to come? Tell us at Defending Big D, or DM us @WesALawrence or @KETibbetts on the short app. (We’re only there for you. Don’t leave us hanging.) And please don't forget to give us a rate, review or share. It's hockey season! Live a little.

As of this posting, the Dallas Stars are 3-0 in the 2024-25 preseason. And here we were thinking Victory+ might be the best thing to come out of September. It's a great environment for Stargazing's annual Brightside Cast, and Wes and Mark are definitely feeling it this year. In this edition, they talk about: the Stars' preseason style and what it means for when the games start counting, the offensive weapons at Pete DeBoer's disposal, the improvement in goaltending depth, the prospect of having three solid left-right pairs on the blueline, oh yeah, Victory+, too! and so very much more. When you're penciling in Tyler Seguin as your third-line center, you mmmmight have a surfeit of talent. We're Stargazing, and we might just turn you into Mr. Brightside, too. Thank BetOnline for making that possible. What's your most optimistic prediction for the season to come? Tell us in the comments, or DM us @WesALawrence or @KETibbetts on the short app. (We’re only there for you. Don’t leave us hanging.) And don’t hesitate to give us a rate, review and share. We love you all.

It's September, and the Dallas Stars are back on the ice. You can almost smell the "Mr. Brightside" in the air, can't you? Wes and Mark are firing up the Victory+ and getting ready to watch some hockey. And on the eve of the Stars' preseason opener, they have so, so, so much to share with you. In this episode, they discuss: how the new contracts for Thomas Harley and Esa Lindell stack up, where all the blueliners will slot in now that a Miro Heiskanen-Matt Dumba pair appears to be a thing, whether it's still just fine if Lian Bichsel begins the season in Cedar Park, how Pete DeBoer's line blender can extract some lemonade from Jason Robertson's preseason unavailability, what it means when the Stars' offensive corps is largely settled but its deployment is in new and wide-open territory, who's the best candidate to become the 13th forward, and ever so much more. Do you have a man crush on Jim Nill? It's OK to talk about it. We're Stargazing, and for us, it comes up a lot. (A lot.) And our friends at BetOnline still sponsor us. It's kind of beautiful. How many minutes did it take for either of our hosts to drop an "I like where we're at"? Tell us in the comments, or DM us with your weird questions @WesALawrence or @KETibbetts on the short app. (We’re only there for you. Don’t leave us hanging.) And while you're here: Please don't hesitate to give us a rate, review and share. We love you all.

We made it! September is here, and as if by magic, the wait for more Dallas Stars hockey has grown ever so much shorter. It's time to start making appointments. Or setting alarms. Your choice. Wes and Mark check the milestones up ahead and point out the landmarks you don't want to miss: the Traverse City NHL Prospect Tournament training camp, and the stories waiting to happen, the preseason schedule, and what to watch for, and so much more. How many days until Victory+ TV? Here at Stargazing, we're counting it down. And you can, too, thanks to our friends at BetOnline. What are you most looking forward to this month? Let’s discuss it in the comments, or DM us @WesALawrence or @KETibbetts on the short app. (We’re only there for you. Don’t leave us hanging.) And because these two always call it – always – here's a look at the Stars' 2024 Traverse City lineup, posted literally minutes before we sent out this episode. (Thanks, I think.) Last thing: Please do us the favor of a rate, review and share. Let’s get ready for Stars!

Summer means fun, and fun starts with the youngsters. And as Dallas Stars fans, we're all about the kids in the team's development system. Who's ready for the big league? Who's still cooking? Derek Neumeier, assistant director of scouting with McKeen's Hockey and longtime Friend of DBD, is back on the mic with Wes and Mark. With th 2024 NHL Draft over and training camp still on the horizon, they devoted an entire episode to Nothing But Prospects. Here's the kind of thing you'll hear: which Stars prospects are the most fun to watch, where Mavrik Bourque and Logan Stankoven will start their seasons, how many Stars fans might be lining up for Lian Bichsel sweaters in the near future, why that extra year with the Texas Stars may have been exactly what Thomas Harley needed, and much, much more. Is Logan Stankoven still a prospect? Or not? Stargazing asks the important questions, even when nobody knows the answers. And now you can, too, thanks to our friends at BetOnline. Do you like where we're at, development-wise? Let's discuss it in the comments, or DM us @WesALawrence or @KETibbetts on the short app. (We’re only there for you. Don't leave us hanging.) If you can't get enough content on the Stars' goaltending pipeline, don't forget to pick up Taylor Baird's latest article on NHL.com. And please don’t forget to rate, review and share. Let’s keep the Stars in summer.

The 2024 NHL Draft is over, free agency is in full swing, and the Dallas Stars are right in the thick of it. But are they making the moves that will matter next season? NHL.com contributor and DBD editor-in-chief Taylor Baird joined Wes and Mark on the first day of silly season to sort through the Stars action. On this week's episode of Stargazing, we present a wide-ranging conversation that included topics like these: why a Chris Tanev deal didn't (and couldn't) happen <li>what Dallas can do with three right-handed D-men,</li> <li>how the Matt Duchene deal fits into the plan,</li> <li>what to make of the Casey DeSmith signing,</li> <li>and ever so much more.</li> If you're fretting over fourth-line deployments, you actually may be doing pretty well. Let's go Stargazing. See if you agree. It's brought to you by our buddies at BetOnline. For future reference, is winning the division an amateur move? Let us know at Defending Big D, or DM us @WesALawrence or @KETibbetts on the short app. (We're there for you.) And please don’t forget to rate, review and share. Let's keep the Stars in summer.