Go ahead and point all the examples of playoff series where a backup goalie gets one, let alone two, starts.

Oetter wasn't good this series and I'm not debating that, but just throwing out a team should play their backup a couple of games just isn't how it works.

Didn't realize how much losing Nils would matter in this series. Felt like the team was never the same after he got hurt.

https://texags.com/forums/12/topics/3604568/next

Still says subscription only. Texags IT

NormanEH said:

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Still says subscription only. Texags IT

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Strange, What kind of browser do you use? Maybe you have security protocols that don't quite jive. I dunno NormanEH...

micahb2002 said:

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Thunder18 said:

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Team has to get more speed

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It's virtually the same roster that Deboer had outskating everyone except Edmonton.

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The Stars got torched in 3 straight conference finals. Colorado outskated the Stars last year. It took killing them on the PP and a ridiculous performance from Rantanen to get past them.

Wonder if a healthy Rantenen and Hintz would have made the difference in the Minnesota series?

Deboer also had Seguin, Marchment, and Granland at his disposal last year. That team had a deeper roster. What did we see in the conference finals? A team with no fight in it at all.

Deboer did a great job with this team, but he was frustrated with them by the conference finals last year. I'm just not convinced that they would have done any better if he had been retained.

Fight through

Just so everyone is aware of realities for this summer:

No Move Clauses:
Mikko, Seguin, Duchene, Hintz, Miro, Otter.
No Trade Clause:
Lindell

— Bob Sturm (@SportsSturm) May 1, 2026

PatAg said:

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micahb2002 said:

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NormanEH said:

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micahb2002 said:

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Otter was in the .890s for the series. He isn't a wart on Eddie Belfour's ass.

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To be fair the D in front of him was ass.

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He faced less high-danger chances than the rookie opposing him, but performed much worse. I would trade Otter before Robo, and I'm not a huge Robo fan.

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is this a fact or just something you are writing

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I posted the article. It was a fact through game 5, and he played like crap in game 6 as well.

TV Casualty said:

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micahb2002 said:

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Thunder18 said:

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Team has to get more speed

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It's virtually the same roster that Deboer had outskating everyone except Edmonton.

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The Stars got torched in 3 straight conference finals. Colorado outskated the Stars last year. It took killing them on the PP and a ridiculous performance from Rantanen to get past them.

Wonder if a healthy Rantenen and Hintz would have made the difference in the Minnesota series?

Deboer also had Seguin, Marchment, and Granland at his disposal last year. That team had a deeper roster. What did we see in the conference finals? A team with no fight in it at all.

Deboer did a great job with this team, but he was frustrated with them by the conference finals last year. I'm just not convinced that they would have done any better if he had been retained.

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There is definitely a culture of mediocrity that any coach has to deal with. I thought Deboer dealt with it best, but he wore everyone out in doing so.

I am far from a Stars fan, although I have some really good friends who are. I have been rooting for DAL simply for that. I wish y'all were moving forward as I was excited for a Stars vs Avs series.

MN vs COL....man...I am on team meteor for this one.

AI says the same thing, but someone can probably find the final stats.

Yeah, I think you extend Robo and use trades to churn anywhere else you can to get a combo of more physical and better defensive puck handling. I just can't see trading a 26 year old 80-100 point guy. It just rarely seems to work out to trade a really good albeit imperfect player in their prime - you either get quantity back that never adds up, or different flaws back. I would certainly make and take some calls to see what I could get, I just don't think that magic deal will be there, partly because whoever gets him also knows they have to pay him.

A real bummer to go out like this, but honestly I had a feeling the Stars were due for a playoff dud after the past three WCF runs.

Something about this years team felt a little thin to me -- too much reliance on the PP for offense, not enough consistent overwhelm at 5v5. We had some stupid high number of 1 goal wins, and come from behind wins as well. Numbers that didn't support a "dominant team" narrative that their point total and place in the standings would suggest. I can't see a DeBoer-led team doing much better though, he had worn out his welcome and was losing the room. Probably would've been fired mid-season if he had stuck around.

It's been beaten to death already, but the NHL is shortsighted in prioritizing compelling 1st round matchups instead of rewarding teams for a strong regular season. This was really a 2nd or 3rd round quality opponent, and we should keep that in mind when evaluating the season. They didn't go out and lose to Anaheim in 6.

Speaking of -- if you think we're frustrated as Stars fan, what do you think Edmonton fans are experiencing? It's gotta be full blown existential panic over there. They have effectively pissed away their competing window with two generational talents due to horrid defense and goaltending. Unless some offseason magic happens I can't see any way Edmonton rebounds and makes a run in the last years of McDavid's tenure there. You hate to see it, but then you love to see it.

Huge offseason for the Stars. They need to upgrade the D-Corp and get heavier and get bigger/meaner in the middle 6 forward group somehow. The Jason Robertson situation is hanging out there like a lead balloon now -- my prediction is that we see a blockbuster trade featuring him and one other starter for a top 6 forward and 5/6 defenseman. Brady Tkachuk anyone? At this point, I just can't see how they sign up for a longer, more expensive term with him when there's real roster renovation needed elsewhere and no cap room to do it.

The Tkachuk thing dangling out there is a very interesting but idk what the right answer is. He brings the heavy, gritty leadership aspect to this team I think we need, but if you were to trade Robo for Tkachuk straightup, you would be trading as sure of an 80-100 point, 40 goal scorer as there is in the NHL for a guy who's never had more than 82 points and 37 goals, and who also just laid a big fat ole goose egg in the playoffs. I also don't know if Robo is what Ottawa needs. The team I think would be most interested is San Jose. They have good prospects and assets and could speed up their winning window with Celebrini bringing in another bona fide super star in Robo.

I'd rather trade Harley and Roope tbh, but Harley's value probably isn't the best at the moment with the contract, and Roope has a NMC, although the NMC isn't a complete bar.

I would literally die if Brady Tkachuk moved to Dallas.

I agree with most of the above, and think that if we trade away Robi it will be bad for the team offense and also the locker room.

I want 2 Tanev clones in the D squad and some speed demons up front for the 2nd line to balance out skill and the "lunch pail" 4th line.

micahb2002 said:

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PatAg said:

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micahb2002 said:

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NormanEH said:

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micahb2002 said:

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Otter was in the .890s for the series. He isn't a wart on Eddie Belfour's ass.

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To be fair the D in front of him was ass.

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He faced less high-danger chances than the rookie opposing him, but performed much worse. I would trade Otter before Robo, and I'm not a huge Robo fan.

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is this a fact or just something you are writing

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I posted the article. It was a fact through game 5, and he played like crap in game 6 as well.

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Wallstedt had a .924 save percentage against the Stars. That's significantly better than Oettinger. He's also only 23 and that was his first legit playoff action and he was definitely better than Oettinger.

We didn't lose the series because of Jake, but he really isn't a positive difference maker either. Even in prior years past where his regular seasons were good, I felt like he would not outplay the other goalie in the playoffs. Maybe in short spurts, but not over a series worth of games.

We got goalied for the 4th year in a row

Oettinger was really good in the 2024 playoffs. He was around .934 or so. He struggled against Edmonton but was still .901. A lot of their goals came on power plays IIRC.

We absolutely were not. We haven't "helped otter" since 2024 imo. You don't have to play Bones hockey to play good defense and limit goals, but you do have to be aware and strong in front of the net, and we aren't enough.

linkdude said:

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Oetter wasn't great, but how many times did we turn it over in our own zone, in a way that led immediately to a good chance for Minn? Felt like we weren't helping him out in that regard.

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That was exactly what happened on the game winning goal.

They were absolutely horrendous at turning the puck over in this series and Otter bailed them out on a lot of them. Myers and Bischel were a ****ing disaster at it, and when they changed it up for game 6, not surprisingly it was still bad. The loss of Nils turned the series. May be surprising that basically the last defender in the rotation could have that much impact, but it was the straw that broke the camel's back. And as the series went on, the Wild learned the more they pressured, the more they'd **** up