Dallas Stars Development Camp: Talking with Atte Joki and Niilopekka Muhonen, and Why the Stars Wanted Britni Smith and Joe Frazer in Frisco

There's never a bad time to talk about Finnish hockey players in Dallas

Jordie Benn’s 600 games in the NHL aren’t too many for him to shovel some snow so some kids can play hockey

Dallas Stars Development Camp was a whirlwind, in a week featuring a new (old) coach, a new (same) Radek Faksa, and a lot of well-wishing to players leaving town for greener pastures.

I spoke with a number of Stars prospects and other people around camp this week, so over the next few days, I’m going to send out stories featuring those conversations, some thoughts about the players, and whatever else I think you might want to know about it. Enjoy!

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Despite all the NHL buzz surrounding the draft, free agency, and even a new head coach in Dallas, something just as exciting was happening in the Metroplex that didn’t feature a single NHL player.

This week, a few dozen young hockey players came to Frisco from across Europe and North America to attend something akin to New Employee Orientation, but for Dallas Stars players (as well as some invited attendees like Tate Taylor and Dylan Hryckowian, younger brothers of Trey and Justin, respectively).

Anyone who’s ever been hired by a big company could probably guess some of the things this week entailed. Players hear a bit about the history of the organization and the ethos of the team while also doing a whole lot of activities to build camaraderie.

For Stars players, that means they heard from people like Jim Nill, Jordie Benn, and even Jason “Stretch” Rademan, director of team services. They also spent time getting a lot of instructions about proper nutrition and strength training from other staff members. The players also participated in group workouts, meals, and team-building activities like volunteering at The Storehouse, as well as daily on-ice activities, wrapping up with a skills competition and mini tournament on Thursday.

Not every team does on-ice activities during Development Camp, as some focus solely on what it means to be part of an organization, saving the hockey for things like prospect tournaments and training camps. But the Stars figured that players would be more comfortable doing what they’re best at for at least part of every day, rather than some of the more offbeat sorts of things teams like Toronto were doing this week. And based on a lot of the smiles this week, they weren’t wrong.

But as far as the players’ hockey skills go, Jordie Benn emphasized something early in the week: the Stars drafted these players because they’re really good already, so they don’t want the players thinking they have to make changes to their games right now.

Instead, this week is about “homework"—a word Rich Pevereley will mention again on Thursday. The Stars wanted to give the players a thorough understanding of how to continue building on the foundation that made Dallas pick them to begin with. From there, they just want to educate them as best they can before the players leave Frisco again to start the next year in their hockey journeys.

Atte Joki

With the draft happening just over the weekend, the plan was for all the players to arrive in Dallas Sunday before development camp began in earnest on Monday morning. That was easy enough for players already in Dallas’s system, or who had received invites weeks ago, as they could plan for the trip ahead of time.