Third Intermission: It’s About Time

Pretty ominous, right? It’s all about time.

It’s about time the Dallas Stars received the attention they deserve. Right? It’s about time that Jim Nill’s efforts receive praise. Of course! It’s about time. Wait. We are COMPLAINING about time? Oh okay. I guess that’s where we are at now.

Fair warning. Reading further will possibly sway your opinions. Hear me out, armchair aristocrats.

Denis the Menace

Calling it how it is. Denis Gurianov is the Dallas Stars rookie of the year.

He very well may be grabbing a phantom vote in the Calder Memorial Trophy voting. (The NHL’s award for rookie of the year.) Although, with names like Hughes, Kubalik, and Makar in the mix, it’s fair to see why he isn’t getting the attention he deserves.

All that being said, there is no denying Gurianov’s impact on the Stars roster in his first full season with the club. Gurianov currently leads the team with 20 goals, but what seems to be sticking out more is his time on the ice.

Denis Gurianov becomes the 15th rookie in #GoStars history to score 20 goals

(3rd since move to @DallasStars) N.Broten 38

B.Bellows 35

B.Smith 30

M.Modano 29

S.Christoff 26

R.Eriksson 25

G.Sharpley 25

J.Neal 24

S.Payne 23

B.Palmer 22

S.Jensen 22

J.Benn 22

A.Pirus 20

P.Braser 20 pic.twitter.com/AnzSFY6pPR — Travis Currie (@travcurrie) March 1, 2020

Time, Why You Punish Me?

That’s for my fellow Hootie fans. It’s also for Gurianov sympathizers.

Stars fandom has seemingly taken a note from a certain silver and blue football franchise that shares the same home city. Complaints have been pouring in from keyboard warriors, calling for justice.

As it stands, Gurianov ranks 73rd overall in average time on ice at 12 minutes and 49 seconds per game. As for the other 20-goal scorers the time on ice averages at 14 minutes and 11 seconds. I get it. It makes complete sense to want your top goal scorer on the ice at all times.

But the complaints do not fall on deaf ears. Coach Rich Bowness and his staff have made efforts to give the top rookie more ice time, but certain situations don’t call for it. Stars senior staff writer Mike Heika stated in one of his most recent posts:

“As Bowness and his coaching staff have tried to get more minutes for Denis Gurianov (20 goals) and Roope Hintz (18 goals), they have changed the way they are doing things. Now, each game is an entity unto itself and minutes vacillate because of the amount of special teams play or whether the Stars are leading or trailing. But while some fans complain that Bowness isn’t using Gurianov or Hintz enough, nobody seems to be concerned that Jamie Benn and Alexander Radulov are down two minutes of ice time per game from last season. Benn has played five of the past 10 games in the 13-minute range, while Radulov has played two games in that range since returning from injury.”

His Time Will Come

The Dallas Stars are a on their way to remaining a playoff team. They are statistically better this season than last year at this time, and have a busy March in which they could ideally clinch their second consecutive playoff birth.

If the 18-19 postseason was any preview for this years postseason, Roope Hintz has set the stage for act two. The rise of Gurianov. Hintz solidified his spot on the main roster with a heroic effort in the 18-19 Stanley Cup playoff run, amassing five goals and three assists for eight points and a story for the ages.

"He was one of the best, if not the best player, on a nightly basis for the @DallasStars in the playoffs." Can the season start already so we can see @roopehintz in action again?!?! #NHLTonight pic.twitter.com/IRk9qUM2Y6 — NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) August 24, 2019

With the emergence of Hintz, I predict that the saga of Gurianov takes center stage when it matters the most.

I am a retired softball legend and an unrestricted beer league hockey free agent. I swing sticks for fun on the ice and links and am constantly feeding my YouTube addiction. I am forever grateful to the state of Minnesota for their hockey team in 1994 and more grateful for the Dallas Stars Stanley Cup in 1999.