Spits & Suds Podcast

Although the Dallas Stars have been eliminated, the Texas Stars are in a heated battle in the American Hockey League's Western Conference Finals. Stephen Meserve of 100 Degree Hockey joins Gavin Spittle to talk about the Stars top affiliate. Stephen talks about some players that have stuck out for Texas in the Calder Cup Playoffs. The edition of Alec Petrovic to the Texas Stars and why Lian Bichsel is not playing. Stephen gives his thoughts on Justin Hryckowian, Matej Blumel and Arttu Hyry making the Dallas Stars roster next year. The guys also talk about the upcoming talent pool in Texas next season. Everything you want to know about the Dallas Stars of the future on this edition of Spits and Suds. 

Host Gavin Spittle reacts to the exit interviews from the players and coach Pete DeBoer. He talks about how mature Jake Oettinger sounded in his exit interview, what he thought about Pete DeBoer’s comments on Jamie Benn’s future with the Stars and DeBoer’s comments about Oettinger. Then he talks about Matt Duchene’s future in the NHL and how he is looking for a multi-year deal. Gavin looks at the big contracts for the main players for the Stars and how tough decisions are going to need to be made. They have to avoid being cap-strapped every year. 

For the third straight year, the Stars are eliminated in the Western Conference Final. Host Gavin Spittle starts with Pete DeBoer’s comments about why he pulled Jake Oettinger. Gavin dissects what DeBoer said and explains why he has a problem with it. Then he goes through all of the tweets from the fans. 

The Stars scored just one goal on the road again and were outplayed by Edmonton in a 4-1 defeat. The Stars are now just one game away from elimination. Host Gavin Spittle breaks down what is going wrong for the Stars and how they fix this. How do they only get 4 shots on net in the third period after they had 16 in the first period? How does this team get more physical? Edmonton was able to skate freely with the puck and they out-hit the Stars in these games. The current players on this team just aren’t physical enough. Lots of angry tweets from listeners after this one. 

Spits and Suds gives you the most recent update on Roope Hintz as well as a confidence booster that Jake Oettinger is the right guy in net for the Stars as pressure mounts. You also hear from Edmonton Oilers radio analyst Bob Stauffer previewing tonight's game from the Oilers point of view. 

Robert Tiffin of StarsThoughts.com joins host Gavin Spittle to give his thoughts on this series. Robert puts focus on Edmonton giving them credit for what they've been able to do including props to Defenseman Evan Bouchard who has been terrific. The officials have been a major talking point and the guys discuss. Can the Stars be more physical with Connor McDavid to slow him down? Robert gives his opinions on possible Stars adjustments and lineup changes for Game 4. It's a deep dive of Stars/Edmonton and the Western Conference Finals with Robert Tiffin on Spits and Suds. 

The Stars are now down 2 games to 1 after a 6-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers. He starts with the refs missing the delay of game and how it led to two Edmonton goals in under a minute. The Stars have now trailed first in 13 of 16 games in the playoffs. Gavin wants to know why the missed delay of game couldn’t be reviewed. Why doesn’t the NHL want to get it right? He talks about other missed penalties in this game and how it could have impacted the result of the game. He sheds some light on the positive stories in hockey, the Texas Stars advanced, Team USA won the gold medal in the IIHF World Championships, for the first time in 92 years. Lots of tweets from listeners reacting to the game.

The series is tied at 1 after the Stars were blanked in game 2, 3-0. Host Gavin Spittle talks about how the Stars are getting outplayed by the Oilers minus the game 1 third period, where Dallas scored 5 goals. Other than that, the Oilers are in control in these games. He wants to see them have more time in the offensive zone and create more pressure in front of Stuart Skinner. Gavin reacts to Pete DeBoer’s comment about the hit on Roope Hintz and explains what he thought about the incident. Lots of tweets to react to about what the Stars need to change and the Roope Hintz injury.  

Coach and Analyst Jack Han joins Gavin to talk about the Stars and Oilers through an analytics standpoint. He thinks Dallas has to try and create more turnovers like they did when Seguin scored on his breakaway in game 1. Jack talks about what Edmonton went through when Dallas continued to get power play chances in game 1. Jack has seen Cody Ceci throughout his career and talks about what he has seen from Ceci this year since he was traded to the Stars. Gavin and Jack talk about Mikael Granlund and what a new contract for him will look like after this season. GM of the year candidates are out and Jack thinks all three are worthy of the Jim Gregory award. 

NHL Insider Sean Shapiro joins Gavin for his weekly appearance to recap the Stars game 1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. The guys talk about the Stars third period magic, where they scored 5 goals and completely took over the game. The guys discuss Mikael Granlund and what a future contract would look like for him. Sean and Gavin discuss both netminders in this series and Sean gives a stat on Stuart Skinner in the postseason and mentions how Calvin Pickard’s injury really plays a factor for this series. They talk about the first two periods and what the Stars need to change as they get ready for game 2. The guys talk about the Texas Stars win Wednesday night and discuss the NHL draft guide Sean is working on.