Over the past two years, Dallas Stars fans near and far have been clamoring for one thing. A goalie switch. Over that same time span, fans and media speculated and reported who they’d bring in if they could. They were tossing around names like Marc-Andre Fleury, and Ben Bishop.
The Stars had a great regular season that year but just couldn’t make it through the Blues to advance in the playoffs. And at that exact moment, the aforementioned names were being tossed around by fans and media. Much to the dismay of the fans, nothing happened.
In fact, the Stars felt so confident in the young crop of players coming up that they let some pretty big names go. The offense was great at times last year and good in others. The defense had their moments when they were decent, too. But more often than not, the fans were left scratching their heads at how horrible the team played last year.
At season’s end, the Dallas Stars brought in Ben Bishop via trade. In return for Bishop, the Los Angeles Kings received a draft pick. A pick that, quite frankly, wouldn’t have helped the Stars to let go nor helped them if they kept it. So they brought in Ben Bishop. In doing so, the Stars addressed a major need and didn’t have to go through free agency. But again, fans went into a frenzy. People who thought Bishop would be a great addition in years past believed different. People who didn’t like the move when it was rumored in years past, they love it now. Then there are fans that just like to say that nothing can help the Stars. However, this move was a great one for the upcoming season, and for the future.
Five Reasons Why Ben Bishop Will Benefit Dallas Stars
5: Ben Bishop grew up playing hockey in Texas. He was a member of the NAHL’s Texas Tornado. He won a National Championship with them as a Dallas Stars affiliate.
4: The Stars made a rather hefty investment in both Kari Lehtonen, and Antti Niemi thinking that both would make a case for themselves to be the number one goalie. They didn’t. Then they had the idea of splitting games evenly between the duo. That failed miserably as well. Now, the Stars can buy out one player. All signs point to Dallas showing Niemi the door.
3: With the likelihood of Dallas buying out one goalie or even exposing one to the expansion draft, the Stars believe that Bishop can and will serve as the #1 goalie. The last one standing will be the clear backup.
2: Bishop is a 2x Vezina Trophy finalist. This award goes to the best goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at his position. An accomplishment that the Stars haven’t witnessed since the Marty Turco days.
1: Standing at 6’7″, weighing 216 lbs, Bishop is a big goalie who is agile and can cover a lot of the net. Coupled with his size and agility, Bishop’s play reading skills and puck play ability make him even more dangerous.