Dallas Stars Hopping On WCH Stat Sheet Early

The World Cup of Hockey has commenced its preliminary play, and all four Dallas Stars have received playing time. Just about all of them have already found their way into the spotlight.

If you have not caught the first three days worth of action of the World Cup of Hockey, you are definitely missing out. Whenever Team USA finds a way to handily beat Team Canada, you kind of have to watch.

The World Cup kicked off this past Thursday, starting with preliminary play. While the tournament part of the WCH does not begin until Saturday, September 17, the prelims gives each of the eight teams a chance to shake off a long offseason and work the rust out before the actual tournament begins.

Each team has played at least one game, playing against the same team every time. The USA has played Canada twice (the series is 1-1). Sweden has played Finland (the series is 1-1). The Czechs played Russia (the series is 1-1). Finally, Team North America played Team Europe (North America is up 1-0 and they play game two today).

The Dallas Stars have four players representing their respective countries in this tourney. F Tyler Seguin is helping out an overpowered Team Canada offense. Forwards Radek Faksa and Ales Hemsky are representing Team Czech Republic. Finally, Stars prospect (that should be a starter this coming season) D Esa Lindell is on Team Finland.

So far, each of them has found a way to make an impact in their two games played.

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Seguin gave Stars fans a moderate scare on Friday night when he stepped on a stick during a rush and fell. He slid hard into the boards and walked gingerly back to the locker room. As Dallas fans waited in angst, Seguin quickly returned to the bench and back onto the ice.

Yesterday, Seguin tallied his first point of the World Cup. With a defender draped over his back on an offensive rush, he made a slick pass to Matt Duchene who buried it home to give Canada one of their five goals. Seguin has also taken five shots on net throughout the tourney, but has yet to find the back of the net.

Ales Hemsky, on the other hand, has been contributing all around. In two games against Russia, Hemsky has tallied an assist taken four shots on net. He holds a +1 on-ice rating. His biggest moment came on Saturday when he scored the game winning shootout goal against the Russians. Faksa has yet to put any points on the board, but he has taken three shots.

Esa Lindell has tallied one assist for Team Finland. In addition to that, former Dallas Stars defender Jyrki Jokipakka has tallied an assist and taken one shot on net.

So make sure to tune into ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, and ESPNEWS as much as you can over these next three days for more prelim action, and then be ready on Saturday when it all kicks off!