The Stars will begin Training Camp in Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.), Canada, for a second consecutive year on Friday, Sept. 16th.  The team will break camp and play their first pre-season game on their return trip to Texas, facing the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on Sept. 20th.

The Stars’ regular season schedule, along with the remainder of the league’s 2011-12 campaign, was released in mid-June and can be seen here in an earlier post I made, or by visiting the Dallas Stars official website.

Further information about the Stars’ 2011 Training Camp at P.E.I. is still pending and will be announced at a later date.

See below for the full pre-season schedule:

DATE   OPPONENT                                 LOCATION                             TIME*

9/20      @ Montreal Canadiens                  Bell Centre                                6:30 p.m.

9/22      vs. Colorado Avalanche                 American Airlines Center         7:30 p.m.

9/24       vs. St. Louis Blues                         American Airlines Center          7:00 p.m.

9/25      @ Colorado Avalanche                  Pepsi Center                             7:00 p.m.

9/27      @ Florida Panthers                       BankAtlantic Center                  6:00 p.m.

9/29     vs. Florida Panthers                      American Airlines Center           7:30 p.m.

10/1     @ St. Louis Blues                           Scottrade Center                         1:30 p.m.

* All times are Central Time

Boise, ID

The game had the makings of a goaltenders’ duel through the first 40 minutes as Idaho’s Tyler Beskorowany and Utah’s Andrew Engelage were perfect through two periods.

Less than two minutes into the third period, Paul Crowder broke the shutout for Utah when he banged home a loose puck from the slot through traffic to beat Beskorowany and give Utah a 1-0 lead. At 4:53, Tyler Ruegsegger capitalized just 12 seconds into a Utah power play to give the Grizzlies a 2-0 lead.

At 18:49, Mark Derlago put Idaho on the board with the extra attacker on as he took a pass in front of the net from John Swanson and slid the puck beneath Engelage to pull Idaho to within one. With 20 seconds remaining and Idaho’s net empty, Derlago was denied on a point-blank opportunity that would have tied the game for Idaho.

Beskorowany stopped 28 of 30 in the loss; he is 1-2-2 in net for Idaho. Engelage is 2-0-0 for Utah, and has turned away 79 shots over his last two starts for Utah.

Idaho and Utah will be back in action for the third and final game of this series Saturday night at Qwest Arena; the puck is scheduled to drop at 7:10 PM

TONIGHT’S AQUAFINA THREE STARS:

1. ANDREW ENGELAGE (UTA)

2. TYLER RUEGSEGGER (UTA)

3. MARK DERLAGO (IDH)

TONIGHT’S COORS LIGHT OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: MARK DERLAGO (IDH)

TONIGHT’S BOX SCORE:

Utah Grizzlies 2 at Idaho Steelheads 1 – Status: Final
Friday, October 29, 2010 – Qwest Arena

Utah 0 0 2 – 2
Idaho 0 0 1 – 1

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Crowder Uta (kneeing), 11:11; Dickson Idh (holding), 14:41; Ludwig Idh (hooking), 16:47.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-McKnight Idh (hooking), 10:07.

3rd Period-1, Utah, Crowder 1 (Carpentier), 1:38. 2, Utah, Ruegsegger 2 (Crowder, Snetsinger), 4:53 (PP). 3, Idaho, Derlago 7 (Swanson, Dickson), 18:49 (PP EN). Penalties-Tassone Idh (high-sticking), 4:40; Flichel Idh (slashing ), 4:53; Swanson Idh (slashing ), 5:21.

Shots on Goal-Utah 9-13-8-30. Idaho 11-16-12-39.
Power Play Opportunities-Utah 1 / 6; Idaho 1 / 1.
Goalies-Utah, Engelage 1-0-0-0 (38 shots-38 saves). Idaho, Beskorowany 1-1-1-1 (30 shots-28 saves).
A-3,033
Referees-Curtis Marouelli (24).
Linesmen-Nolan Rein (91), Andrew Wetzel (92).

***

Frisco, Tex. – Dallas Stars General Manager Joe Nieuwendyk announced today that the hockey club and goaltender Kari Lehtonen have agreed to terms on a three-year contract extension worth $10.65 million ($3.55 million per year average). This extension will put Lehtonen under contract through the 2012-13 season.

“We were excited to acquire Kari Lehtonen in February because of his size, skill and potential to once again be a top-tier goaltender in this league,” Nieuwendyk said. “His play during the last month of the season reaffirmed our belief that he can be our starter for next year and seasons to come. We’re very happy to agree to terms with Kari on this contract extension.”

Lehtonen, 26, posted a 6-3-0 record with a 2.44 GAA and a .926 save percentage over his last nine games and totaled 12 games going 6-4-0 with a 2.81 GAA and a .911 save percentage in 2009-10 for Dallas. The 6-4, 215-pound goaltender’s best season came in 2006-07 when he led the Thrashers to their first Southeast division title. He went 34-24-9 including four shutouts with a 2.79 GAA and a .912 save percentage. Lehtonen was acquired via trade with the Atlanta Thrashers on February 9, 2010 in exchange for Ivan Vishnevskiy and Dallas’ fourth round draft choice in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

The native of Helsinki, Finland, has played in 216 career NHL games, posting a 100-87-17 record with a 2.87 GAA and a .912 save percentage. He was drafted second overall by Atlanta in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.

***

Stars writer John Tranchina also has a good article about Lehtonen and his signing on the club’s website.

ANCHORAGE, AK

Alaska struck first at 16:32 of the first period when Nick Mazzolini banged home a Bryan Miller rebound to beat Richard Bachman; the goal was the first given up by Bachman during the two-game series between the Steelheads and Aces.

At 17:49, Mark Derlago tied the game on a disputed goal, his 41st of the season. Derlago took a pass from John Swanson on the doorstep, and tipped the puck over the goal line. Evan Barlow also assisted on Derlago’s goal, as he builds on the club record he set with his 40th goal of the season in last night’s win; his club record for most goals in a season in Idaho’s ECHL era.

At 3:49 of the second period, Jarrett Konkle took a pass in front of the net from Dion Knelsen, and one-timed the puck by Richard Bachman for the go-ahead tally.

At 5:05 of the middle frame, Michael Neal won a race to the puck against Nils Backstrom, carried through the right circle, and connected on a pass to Kevin DeVergilio, who backhanded a puck top-shelf on Alaska’s Billy Sauer to tie the game. Guillaume Monast also assisted on DeVergilio’s 18th of the season.

Just 2:39 later, Curtis Fraser banged home another rebound to give Alaska another lead; 3-2.

At 13:44, Marty Flichel scored for Idaho to tie the game at 3-3 after Geoff Irwin hit the goal post, and the puck bounced directly to Flichel for the rebound. Brandon Knelsen also assisted on the goal, earning his first professional point.

There was no scoring in the game through the third period, and the teams were scoreless in overtime as well. In the shootout, Idaho was outscored 3-2, as the Steelheads were handed a shootout loss.

Richard Bachman stopped 34 of 37 shots as his record falls to 22-7-4. Billy Sauer stopped 14 of 17, as he improves to 6-3-1.

The Steelheads wrap-up the regular season with games in Bakersfield on Friday and Saturday nights, and begin the Kelly Cup Playoffs at home on April 16th and 17th. Single-game playoff tickets go on sale April 1st at 10:00 AM.

TONIGHT’S AQUAFINA THREE STARS:

1. Dion Knelsen (AK)
2. Jarrett Konkle (AK)
3. Richard Bachman (IDH)

TONIGHT’S COORS LIGHT OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: Kevin DeVergilio (IDH)

TONIGHT’S BOX SCORE:

Idaho Steelheads 3 At Alaska Aces 4 (SO) – Status: Final SO
Mar 31, 2010 – Sullivan Arena

Idaho 1 2 0 0 – 3
Alaska 1 2 0 0 – 4

1st Period-1, Alaska, Mazzolini 26 (Miller, McBride), 16:32. 2, Idaho, Derlago 41 (Barlow, Swanson), 17:49. Penalties-Flichel Idh (tripping), 2:19; Johnson Ak (roughing), 13:19; McBride Ak (slashing ), 19:29.

2nd Period-3, Alaska, Konkle 14 (Knelsen, Crum), 3:49. 4, Idaho, DeVergilio 18 (Neal, Monast), 5:05. 5, Alaska, Fraser 7 (Marsh, Knelsen), 7:44 (pp). 6, Idaho, Flichel 14 (Irwin, Knelsen), 13:44. Penalties-Milnamow Idh (interference), 5:49; Johnson Ak (charging), 20:00.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Milnamow Idh (hooking), 11:58; McBride Ak (high-sticking), 14:11; Mouillierat Idh (hooking), 17:01.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout – Idaho 2 (DeVergilio NG, Derlago G, Barlow NG, Mouillierat G, Flichel NG), Alaska 3 (Konkle G, Mazzolini NG, Knelsen G, Backstrom NG, Nunn G).
Shots on Goal-Idaho 5-5-4-3-0-17. Alaska 7-14-15-1-1-38.
Power Play Opportunities-Idaho 0 of 4; Alaska 1 of 4.
Goalies-Idaho, Bachman 22-7-0-4 (37 shots-34 saves). Alaska, Sauer 6-3-1-0 (17 shots-14 saves).
A-4,183
Referees-Nick Krebsbach (8).
Linesmen-Travis Jackson (92), Scott Sivulich (73).

Kael Mouillierat

Geoff Irwin

The Idaho Steelheads signed a pair of rookie forwards on Friday.  Steelheads head coach Derek Laxdal said the team had added Minnesota State-Mankato forwards Kael Mouillierat and Geoff Irwin to their roster, and the pair would join the team in Ontario, CA, in time for Friday night’s game against the Reign.

The 5-foot-11 Mouillierat tied for the MSU team lead with 13 goals and finished second on the Mavericks’ roster with 25 points this season. Irwin, a native of Victoria, BC, finished with 24 points (8 goals, 16 assists).

Irwin served as MSU’s captain and Mouillierat (pronounced MALLER-wrat) was one of the team’s alternate captains.

Please see both players’ full collegiate stats below:

***

FRISCO – Mico Solorzano of the Texas Tornado made a milestone jump last weekend when he suited up against the Topeka RoadRunners. Solorzano started the season off with the Texas Tornado U18 team of the NAPHL. His move to the Texas Tornado of the NAHL marks the first time a player has graduated from the league.

The North American Prospects Hockey League is a collection of Tier I Midget AAA teams created to serve as a developmental league for the NAHL. This is the NAPHL’s inaugural season, never having a player called to the NAHL until now. Solorzano’s exceptional play at the midget level has quickly earned him a spot at the junior level where he debuted last weekend in the Tornado home opener against the Topeka RoadRunners.

After just 5 games in the young NAPHL season the 17-year-old Solorzano had accumulated 7 points, good enough to be third in the league in points overall and first among defensemen. His 3 goals also led all NAPHL defensemen. His most memorable game in his short NAPHL career was a 2-1 win against the Green Bay Jr Gamblers in which Solorzano notched both goals for his team.

His scoring presence was felt early as a new member of the NAHL Tornado as he scored in Saturday’s game against Topeka, just his second game with the junior team.

Solorzano will wear number 23 for the Tornado.