# 2011–12 Dallas Stars season

The 2011–12 Dallas Stars season is the 45th season (44th of play) for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on June 5, 1967, and 19th season (18th of play) since the franchise relocated to Dallas to start the 1993–94 season.
The team failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the fourth year in a row. This was the second consecutive season that the Stars finished with a winning record but did not qualify for the playoffs.

## Off-Season

On June 17, 2011, the Stars officially announced the hiring of Glen Gulutzan to be their new head coach. Gulutzan had been the head coach of the Stars' American Hockey League affiliate, the Texas Stars.

## Regular season

The Stars' power play struggled during the regular season, as they finished 30th overall in power-play goals scored (33) and in power-play percentage (13.52%).

## Playoffs

The Stars failed to qualify for the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs.

## Standings

Pacific Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | y – Phoenix Coyotes | 82 | 42 | 27 | 13 | 36 | 216 | 204 | +12 | 97 |
| 2 | x – San Jose Sharks | 82 | 43 | 29 | 10 | 34 | 228 | 210 | +18 | 96 |
| 3 | x – Los Angeles Kings | 82 | 40 | 27 | 15 | 34 | 194 | 179 | +15 | 95 |
| 4 | Dallas Stars | 82 | 42 | 35 | 5 | 35 | 211 | 222 | −11 | 89 |
| 5 | Anaheim Ducks | 82 | 34 | 36 | 12 | 31 | 204 | 231 | −27 | 80 |
Western Conference :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | NW | p – Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 51 | 22 | 9 | 43 | 249 | 198 | +51 | 111 |
| 2 | CE | y – St. Louis Blues | 82 | 49 | 22 | 11 | 45 | 210 | 165 | +45 | 109 |
| 3 | PA | y – Phoenix Coyotes | 82 | 42 | 27 | 13 | 36 | 216 | 204 | +12 | 97 |
| 4 | CE | x – Nashville Predators | 82 | 48 | 26 | 8 | 43 | 237 | 210 | +27 | 104 |
| 5 | CE | x – Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 48 | 28 | 6 | 39 | 248 | 203 | +45 | 102 |
| 6 | CE | x – Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 45 | 26 | 11 | 38 | 248 | 238 | +10 | 101 |
| 7 | PA | x – San Jose Sharks | 82 | 43 | 29 | 10 | 34 | 228 | 210 | +18 | 96 |
| 8 | PA | x – Los Angeles Kings | 82 | 40 | 27 | 15 | 34 | 194 | 179 | +15 | 95 |
| 9 | NW | Calgary Flames | 82 | 37 | 29 | 16 | 34 | 202 | 226 | −24 | 90 |
| 10 | PA | Dallas Stars | 82 | 42 | 35 | 5 | 35 | 211 | 222 | −11 | 89 |
| 11 | NW | Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 41 | 35 | 6 | 32 | 208 | 220 | −12 | 88 |
| 12 | NW | Minnesota Wild | 82 | 35 | 36 | 11 | 24 | 177 | 226 | −49 | 81 |
| 13 | PA | Anaheim Ducks | 82 | 34 | 36 | 12 | 31 | 204 | 231 | −27 | 80 |
| 14 | NW | Edmonton Oilers | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 27 | 212 | 239 | −27 | 74 |
| 15 | CE | Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 29 | 46 | 7 | 25 | 202 | 262 | −60 | 65 |

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

2011–12 Game Log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Loui Eriksson | 82 | 26 | 45 | 71 | 18 | 12 |
| Mike Ribeiro | 74 | 18 | 45 | 63 | 5 | 66 |
| Jamie Benn | 71 | 26 | 37 | 63 | 15 | 55 |
| Michael Ryder | 82 | 35 | 27 | 62 | 17 | 46 |
| Steve Ott | 74 | 11 | 28 | 39 | 5 | 156 |
| Alex Goligoski | 71 | 9 | 21 | 30 | 0 | 16 |
| Brenden Morrow | 57 | 11 | 15 | 26 | 1 | 97 |
| Trevor Daley | 79 | 4 | 21 | 25 | 3 | 42 |
| Stephane Robidas | 75 | 5 | 17 | 22 | -5 | 48 |
| Sheldon Souray | 64 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 11 | 73 |
| Radek Dvorak | 73 | 4 | 17 | 21 | −16 | 12 |
| Vernon Fiddler | 82 | 8 | 13 | 21 | −13 | 60 |
| Eric Nystrom | 74 | 16 | 5 | 21 | −10 | 24 |
| Adam Burish | 65 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 6 | 76 |
| Tom Wandell | 72 | 6 | 9 | 15 | −5 | 16 |
| Philip Larsen | 55 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 16 |
| Tomas Vincour | 47 | 4 | 6 | 10 | −2 | 2 |
| Jake Dowell | 52 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −3 | 53 |
| Toby Petersen | 39 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −7 | 6 |
| Adam Pardy | 36 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −5 | 16 |
| Ryan Garbutt | 20 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -1 | 22 |
| Mark Fistric | 60 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −3 | 41 |
| Jordie Benn | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Francis Wathier | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Scott Glennie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Reilly Smith | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 2 |
| Brenden Dillon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Fraser | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime losses; GA = Goals against; GAA= Goals against average; SA= Shots against; SV= Saves; Sv% = Save percentage; SO= Shutouts
Regular season :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | Sv% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Kari Lehtonen | 59 | 3497 | 32 | 22 | 4 | 136 | 2.33 | 1739 | .922 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Richard Bachman | 18 | 933 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 43 | 2.77 | 477 | .910 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Andrew Raycroft | 10 | 529 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 31 | 3.52 | 303 | .898 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Stars. Stats reflect time spent with the Stars only. $^‡$Traded mid-season Bold/italics denotes franchise record

## Awards and records
### Awards

Regular Season :
| Player | Award | Awarded |
| Kari Lehtonen | NHL Third Star of the Week | October 17, 2011 |
| Kari Lehtonen | NHL Second Star of the Month | October 2011 |
| Loui Eriksson | NHL Second Star of the Week | November 7, 2011 |
| Kari Lehtonen | NHL Third Star of the Week | February 27, 2012 |

### Milestones

Regular Season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Trevor Daley | 500th Career NHL Game | October 8, 2011 |
| Mark Fistric | 200th Career NHL Game | October 10, 2011 |
| Jamie Benn | 100th Career NHL Point | October 15, 2011 |
| Mike Ribeiro | 500th Career NHL Point | October 15, 2011 |
| Steve Ott | 500th Career NHL Game | October 22, 2011 |
| Sheldon Souray | 100th Career NHL Goal | November 4, 2011 |
| Trevor Daley | 100th Career NHL Assist | November 12, 2011 |
| Kari Lehtonen | 300th Career NHL Game | November 18, 2011 |
| Eric Nystrom | 300th Career NHL Game | November 19, 2011 |
| Brenden Morrow | 500th Career NHL Point | November 21, 2011 |
| Nicklas Grossmann | 300th Career NHL Game | November 25, 2011 |
| Richard Bachman | 1st Career NHL Win | December 10, 2011 |
| Richard Bachman | 1st Career NHL Shutout | December 13, 2011 |
| Loui Eriksson | 400th Career NHL Game | December 13, 2011 |
| Mike Ribeiro | 700th Career NHL Game | December 31, 2011 |
| Jordie Benn | 1st Career NHL Game 1st Career NHL Assist 1st Career NHL Point | January 3, 2012 |
| Steve Ott | 200th Career NHL Point | January 10, 2012 |
| Loui Eriksson | 300th Career NHL Point | January 21, 2012 |
| Philip Larsen | 1st Career NHL Goal | January 21, 2012 |
| Vernon Fiddler | 500th Career NHL Game | January 24, 2012 |
| Matt Fraser | 1st Career NHL Game | January 24, 2012 |
| Michael Ryder | 600th Career NHL Game | February 4, 2012 |
| Jamie Benn | 200th Career NHL Game | February 10, 2012 |
| Ryan Garbutt | 1st Career NHL Game | February 18, 2012 |
| Ryan Garbutt | 1st Career NHL Goal 1st Career NHL Point | February 21, 2012 |
| Sheldon Souray | 700th Career NHL Game | February 26, 2012 |
| Tom Wandell | 200th Career NHL Game | March 4, 2012 |
| Ryan Garbutt | 1st Career NHL Assist | March 8, 2012 |
| Brenden Morrow | 800th Career NHL Game | March 26, 2012 |
| Reilly Smith | 1st Career NHL Game | March 28, 2012 |
| Brenden Dillon | 1st Career NHL Game | April 7, 2012 |
| Scott Glennie | 1st Career NHL Game | April 7, 2012 |

## Transactions

The Stars have been involved in the following transactions during the 2011–12 season:

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| October 12, 2011 | To Minnesota Wild Future considerations | To Dallas Stars Eric Nystrom |
| December 7, 2011 | To Florida Panthers Krys Barch 6th-round pick in 2012 | To Dallas Stars Jake Hauswirth 5th-round pick in 2012 |
| January 13, 2012 | To Florida Panthers Ondrej Roman | To Dallas Stars Angelo Esposito |
| February 16, 2012 | To Philadelphia Flyers Nicklas Grossmann | To Dallas Stars 2nd-round pick in 2012 3rd-round pick in 2013 |
Lost via retirement
Player
Mike Modano
Player signings
PlayerDateContract terms
John KlingbergMay 16, 20113 years, $2.23 million entry-level contract
Travis MorinJune 9, 20112 years, $1.05 million
Colton SceviourJune 9, 20111 year, $525,000
Richard BachmanJune 16, 20111 year, $550,000
Brad LukowichJune 28, 20111 year, $1 million
Raymond SawadaJuly 19, 20111 year, $600,000
Jamie OleksiakOctober 6, 20113 years, $2.775 million entry-level contract
Alex GoligoskiJanuary 23, 20124 years, $18.4 million contract extension
Austin SmithMarch 21, 20122 years, $1.75 million entry-level contract
Reilly SmithMarch 25, 20123 years, $2.7 million entry-level contract
Alex ChiassonMarch 26, 20123 years, $2.6 million entry-level contract
Matej StranskyApril 2, 20123 years, $1.875 million entry-level contract
Francis WathierJune 13, 20122 years, $1.15 million
Jyrki JokipakkaJune 14, 20123 years, $2 million entry-level contract
Emil MolinJune 15, 20123 years, $2.07 million entry-level contract :

## Draft picks

The Stars' picks at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft in St. Paul, Minnesota.
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 14 | Jamie Oleksiak | D | Canada | Northeastern University (Hockey East) |
| 2 | 44 | Brett Ritchie | RW | Canada | Sarnia Sting (OHL) |
| 4 | 105 | Emil Molin | C | Sweden | Brynas IF Jr. (J20 SuperElit) |
| 5 | 135 | Troy Vance | D | United States | Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL) |
| 6 | 165 | Matej Stransky | RW | Czech Republic | Saskatoon Blades (WHL) |
| 7 | 195 | Jyrki Jokipakka | D | Finland | Ilves (SM-liiga) |