The Dallas Stars are having themselves a season, injuries and roster holes and recent losses notwithstanding. But this year, that success has come at an organizational cost — and their brethren in Cedar Park have often been the ones paying it.
Mark Zimmerman loves discussing the <a href="https://texasstars.com/" target="_blank">Texas Stars</a>, and even more so when he can enlist Stephen Meserve to talk with. Late last week, the founder of the go-to T-Stars news site <a href="https://www.100degreehockey.com/" target="_blank">100 Degree Hockey</a> and co-author of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/124968062-we-win-here" target="_blank">We Win Here: The Definitive Essays You Need About The Texas Stars</a> joined him for a fireside chat.
In this episode, they talk about the slump in special teams, the boost the offense needs, the long-term effects of trading away draft picks, the surprisingly happy news about the defense and goaltending, and why Texas is still in striking distance of the 2026 Calder Cup playoffs in spite of all their challenges. As a bonus, they also ponder how the <a href="https://idahosteelheads.com/">Idaho Steelheads</a> just. keep. winning. Somehow.
Who would you like to see step and be That Guy in Metro Austin? <a href="https://www.defendingbigd.com/">Tell us at Defending Big D.</a> We may even discuss your thoughts in a future cast. (No, really!)
And, as always, please rate, review, or share wherever you get your ’casts. We're Stargazing, and we love you. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

<description>&lt;p&gt;The Dallas Stars are having themselves a season, injuries and roster holes and recent losses notwithstanding. But this year, that success has come at an organizational cost — and their brethren in Cedar Park have often been the ones paying it.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Mark Zimmerman loves discussing the &lt;a href="https://texasstars.com/" target="_blank"&gt;Texas Stars&lt;/a&gt;, and even more so when he can enlist Stephen Meserve to talk with. Late last week, the founder of the go-to T-Stars news site &lt;a href="https://www.100degreehockey.com/" target="_blank"&gt;100 Degree Hockey&lt;/a&gt; and co-author of &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/124968062-we-win-here" target="_blank"&gt;We Win Here: The Definitive Essays You Need About The Texas Stars&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; joined him for a fireside chat.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In this episode, they talk about the slump in special teams, the boost the offense needs, the long-term effects of trading away draft picks, the surprisingly happy news about the defense and goaltending, and why Texas is still in striking distance of the 2026 Calder Cup playoffs in spite of all their challenges. As a bonus, they also ponder how the &lt;a href="https://idahosteelheads.com/"&gt;Idaho Steelheads&lt;/a&gt; just. keep. winning. Somehow.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Who would you like to see step and be That Guy in Metro Austin? &lt;a href="https://www.defendingbigd.com/"&gt;Tell us at Defending Big D.&lt;/a&gt; We may even discuss your thoughts in a future cast. (No, really!)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And, as always, please rate, review, or share wherever you get your ’casts. We're Stargazing, and we love you.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br/&gt; &lt;p&gt;Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See &lt;a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com"&gt;pcm.adswizz.com&lt;/a&gt; for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Stephen Meserve joins Mark Zimmerman to talk about what's going wrong (and right) with the Texas Stars and the Idaho Steelheads.

Texas Stars Fall Update 2025

With Tyler Seguin's season-ending injury, the Dallas Stars face a challenge above and beyond even their other well-documented woes in the man-games-lost department in 2026-27. The question now is how they will try to fill his roster spot...unless, perhaps, the real question is whether they need to at all.
Any time there's this much money involved, Wes and Mark know what to do — and that's to call on Juraj Kralik. In this edition, they all discuss the finer points of long-term injured reserve, how the newly christened Mark Stone Rule will complicate the playoffs picture, why the Stars might skip right past a rental forward and look to trade for another impact defender, why doing nothing may be a viable answer, and so much more.
You know what might really fix everything? Getting those '99 sweaters back in stock. We’re Stargazing, and we can tell you why. What's your answer? <a href="https://www.defendingbigd.com/">Tell us at Defending Big D.</a>
And hey, don't forget to give us a rate, review or share wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks in advance. We love you all. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

<description>&lt;p&gt;With Tyler Seguin's season-ending injury, the Dallas Stars face a challenge above and beyond even their other well-documented woes in the man-games-lost department in 2026-27. The question now is how they will try to fill his roster spot...unless, perhaps, the real question is whether they need to at all.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Any time there's this much money involved, Wes and Mark know what to do — and that's to call on Juraj Kralik. In this edition, they all discuss the finer points of long-term injured reserve, how the newly christened Mark Stone Rule will complicate the playoffs picture, why the Stars might skip right past a rental forward and look to trade for another impact defender, why doing nothing may be a viable answer, and so much more.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;You know what might &lt;em&gt;really&lt;/em&gt; fix everything? Getting those '99 sweaters back in stock. We’re Stargazing, and we can tell you why. What's &lt;em&gt;your&lt;/em&gt; answer? &lt;a href="https://www.defendingbigd.com/"&gt;Tell us at Defending Big D.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And hey, don't forget to give us a rate, review or share wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks in advance. We love you all.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br/&gt; &lt;p&gt;Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See &lt;a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com"&gt;pcm.adswizz.com&lt;/a&gt; for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

What do the Dallas Stars do without Tyler Seguin? Juraj Kralik joins Wes Lawrence and Mark Zimmerman to discuss the options.

Numbers Game

The Dallas Stars are a better team now than they were a month ago...and they're still not as good as they project to be with a healthy lineup. In the spirit of the season, it's time for some thanksgiving.
As it turns out, Wes and Mark know all about being grateful for the bounty in Big D. In this edition, they discuss Jason Robertson's record-setting heater, Tyler Seguin's creativity, Mikko Rantanen's magic, Miro Heiskanen's renaissance, Wyatt Johnston's yet-untapped potential, the power play's deadly efficiency, and so much more.
This is one of the top two teams in the NHL. In the NHL. We’re Stargazing, and we're loving (almost) every minute of it. How about you? <a href="https://www.defendingbigd.com/">Talk to us at Defending Big D.</a>
And while you're at it, please give us a rate, review or share at a podcast aggregator near you. Thanks in advance. We love you all. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

<description>&lt;p&gt;The Dallas Stars are a better team now than they were a month ago...and they're still not as good as they project to be with a healthy lineup. In the spirit of the season, it's time for some thanksgiving.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;As it turns out, Wes and Mark know all about being grateful for the bounty in Big D. In this edition, they discuss Jason Robertson's record-setting heater, Tyler Seguin's creativity, Mikko Rantanen's magic, Miro Heiskanen's renaissance, Wyatt Johnston's yet-untapped potential, the power play's deadly efficiency, and so much more.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This is one of the top two teams in the NHL. &lt;em&gt;In the NHL.&lt;/em&gt; We’re Stargazing, and we're loving (almost) every minute of it. How about you? &lt;a href="https://www.defendingbigd.com/"&gt;Talk to us at Defending Big D.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And while you're at it, please give us a rate, review or share at a podcast aggregator near you. Thanks in advance. We love you all.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br/&gt; &lt;p&gt;Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See &lt;a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com"&gt;pcm.adswizz.com&lt;/a&gt; for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

It's that time of year, and the Dallas Stars fandom is feeling grateful. Wes Lawrence and Mark Zimmerman can tell you why.

Give Thanks

Somehow, the Dallas Stars have become one of the NHL's most dangerous power-play teams with only one power-play unit. And that's not the weird part. Wes and Mark are always looking for the worst explanations for the Stars' best performances — and even they're going to the &quot;special teams mean nothing during the playoffs after the refs swallow their whistles&quot; take at this point.
That said, they do have questions. In this episode of Stargazing, they want to know what's up with Thomas Harley, how Mikko Rantanen has changed the team's structure, whether the new system is contributing to defensive foibles, if the Stars can keep holding their own in the Central Division, and so much more. It all adds up to the kind of hard-hitting analysis that can be summarized as &quot;More points are better than less points.&quot;
This team we're so worried about has a 7-1-2 record over the past 10 games. We’re Stargazing, and we say, let that soak in. But tell us why you're concerned <a href="https://www.defendingbigd.com/">over at Defending Big D</a>, because we swear we'll understand.
By the way, please, give us a rate, review or share wherever you get your digital sound files. Thanks in advance. We love you all. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

<description>&lt;p&gt;Somehow, the Dallas Stars have become one of the NHL's most dangerous power-play teams with only one power-play unit. And that's not the weird part. Wes and Mark are always looking for the worst explanations for the Stars' best performances — and even they're going to the &amp;quot;special teams mean nothing during the playoffs after the refs swallow their whistles&amp;quot; take at this point.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;That said, they do have questions. In this episode of Stargazing, they want to know what's up with Thomas Harley, how Mikko Rantanen has changed the team's structure, whether the new system is contributing to defensive foibles, if the Stars can keep holding their own in the Central Division, and so much more. It all adds up to the kind of hard-hitting analysis that can be summarized as &amp;quot;More points are better than less points.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This team we're so worried about has a 7-1-2 record over the past 10 games. We’re Stargazing, and we say, let &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt; soak in. But tell us why you're concerned &lt;a href="https://www.defendingbigd.com/"&gt;over at Defending Big D&lt;/a&gt;, because we swear we'll understand.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;By the way, please, give us a rate, review or share wherever you get your digital sound files. Thanks in advance. We love you all.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br/&gt; &lt;p&gt;Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See &lt;a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com"&gt;pcm.adswizz.com&lt;/a&gt; for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

...You are. Wes Lawrence and Mark Zimmerman think the Dallas Stars' problems aren't really solved – but they may just be manageable.

If You Think You're Done...

Good news! The Dallas Stars' power play is every bit as dangerous as it looks. Now if only they could score at even strength....
There's so little flexibility in the Victory Green lineup right now that it's easy to hang all one's hopes on the regular roster players who are surely coming back any day now. And however much false hope may trouble Wes and Mark, their take on the Stars' status is...pretty optimistic, all things considered. In the latest edition of Stargazing, they discuss who will be the best partner for Lian Bichsel, whether Mavrik Bourque needs to move up a line, who we need to call to get Wyatt Johnston onto Team Canada, and so much, much more.
Just wait ’til everyone is healthy. Right? ...Right? If you have a different take, then by all means <a href="https://www.defendingbigd.com/">share it at Defending Big D</a>. We'll probably even mention you in a future cast. We're Stargazing, and we say Miro solves everything. (Hey, prove us wrong.)
And please, give us a rate, review or share wherever you get your digital sound files. Thanks in advance. We love you all. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

<description>&lt;p&gt;Good news! The Dallas Stars' power play is every bit as dangerous as it looks. Now if only they could score at even strength....&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;There's so little flexibility in the Victory Green lineup right now that it's easy to hang all one's hopes on the regular roster players who are surely coming back &lt;em&gt;any day now&lt;/em&gt;. And however much false hope may trouble Wes and Mark, their take on the Stars' status is...pretty optimistic, all things considered. In the latest edition of Stargazing, they discuss who will be the best partner for Lian Bichsel, whether Mavrik Bourque needs to move up a line, who we need to call to get Wyatt Johnston onto Team Canada, and so much, much more.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Just wait ’til everyone is healthy. Right? ...Right? If you have a different take, then by all means &lt;a href="https://www.defendingbigd.com/"&gt;share it at Defending Big D&lt;/a&gt;. We'll probably even mention you in a future cast. We're Stargazing, and we say Miro solves everything. (Hey, prove us wrong.)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And please, give us a rate, review or share wherever you get your digital sound files. Thanks in advance. We love you all.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br/&gt; &lt;p&gt;Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See &lt;a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com"&gt;pcm.adswizz.com&lt;/a&gt; for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Wes Lawrence and Mark Zimmerman discuss a power play that's hot, 5-on-5 play that's not, Lian Bichsel's big-boy growing pains, and so much more.

Really Special Teams

From Defending Big D: Dallas Stars news, opinion, and everything you love about the South‘s most popular NHL franchise.

Stargazing: A Dallas Stars Puckcast | Defending Big D

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