Player of the Week: Jeff Halpern

One of 3 active Jews in the league (and yes, this is an honest fact, I'm not trying to be racist) Jeff Halpern spent the beginning of the his NHL career with the Washington Capitals. The beginning of this season Halpie came to Dallas as a free agent and has so far underperformed compared to his previous years. In his 6 years at Washington he averaged 14.5 goals and 21 assists per year and he held a 12.8 shooting percentage. This year he was down in all fronts, with 8 goals, 17 assists and a 7.5 shooting percentage.

That said, I'm not complaining - Halpie is a great addition to the team and I'm very happy to see him here, expect to see his numbers way up next year.

So a little bit about Halpie, shall we? Jeff is one of 2 American born players on the Stars team. He grew up in Maryland, a very atypical location for a hockey player to become famous, and slowly found his way up to the big leagues. As a child Halpern's dad, Mel, is said to have driven over 200,000 miles from Maryland all the way up to Quebec and Ontario to chase the dreams of his son - and it's obviously paid off!

At 3 Halpern started on the ice - his father learning with him, at 4 he joined a hockey clinic, at 5 a house league and at 6 a Mites travel team as part of the Capital Beltway Hockey League. At 9 he tried out for, and made, the Little Caps, a team full of 10 and 11 year olds who were all just a little bigger then him.

For high school Halpern went to a prep school in New England to prepare himself for College (and College Hockey) while continuing to play for the Little Caps in teh DC area - it was a regular thing for him to play Saturday night in New England and Sunday night in Maryland. However, by his senior year he was still short on being noticed by the big hockey colleges - so he went "abroad" and took a year in the 51st state playing for the Stratford Cullins in Stratford Ontario - and it was exactly what he needed.

After a successful year (48 goals & 96 assists in 72 games) on a team that won their championships Halpern heard from Yale, Harvard, Cornell, Brown Dartmouth, and more importantly Princeton. With the chance to follow his sister to college (Princeton, of course) - he did - and with a breakout year his Jr year he ended up skating at the Caps' rookie training camp and then again as an opposing player against the veteran caps during their summer training camps.

His Sr year Jeff found himself sharing Princeton's Roper Trophy for scholastic and athletic achievement as well as sharing the Ivy League title with Yale. After such a successful year he had 10 agents and 15 NHL teams asking for him - but declined all but 1, the Washington Capitals, without an agent.

The rest is history - and this is our Halpie. You'll be seeing more of him over the next 3 years - and possibly more if his contract is extended.

Smarter Hockey = Winning Games

Did you realize that Dallas has not given up more than one power play goal in a game since before the All Star break? How about only allowing four power play goals in the last 37 attempts by the opponents we have faced since the break? Turco and now more importantly Smitty are a big part of why that number is as low as it is. You would think we would have the top penalty killing unit in the NHL right now and maybe we do, but we still sit 11th overall. And it doesn’t start with goaltending, credit the rest of the team for stepping up to block shots, lift sticks and heavy pressure on the teams who get that man advantage at least twice in a game. Also notice that in the eight games we have played, we have only been penalized the 37 times which comes out less than four per game. Two of the seven contests we only gave up two minors so also credit the team for not taking those mental penalties in the games.

That brings me to my next point which is why I think the Stars are playing better hockey now then they have been all year. Look back at the Anaheim game when Jussi scores the lone goal on the power play, then at the Colorado game when we have seven different goal scorers and eleven different assisters not counting the multi-point players like Halpern, Ribeiro, Boucher and Lehtinen. Then look at the difference between the two teams. I sat and watched the Colorado Anaheim game last night and Colorado won the game 2-0 on 29 shots while Anaheim threw 39 at Budaj and couldn’t get one past, much like the 32 shots thrown at Smitty on Saturday. We know when we play teams like Anaheim that it is going to be a close game. The three games we have played Colorado have also been close but have been higher scoring. We had an offensive rush for the first time in a long time and I hope it continues for the rest of the season. 30+ shots on net, physical precedence, smart passes and great offensive rushes resulting in goals will excel this team to the top and past the first round of the playoffs! Keep it up boys, you’re looking good!!