After losing in the first round in both the CMHL and ICHF last year, the Dallas Stars and their farm team Minnesota North Stars will look to avoir first-round defeats at the hands of Vancouver and False Creek this time around. Here's a breakdown of the matchups.

CMHL - Vancouver (3) vs Dallas (6)

Season Series: The Canucks beat the Stars 2-1, outscoring them 9-5 with each team winning their respective home games. 

Team Stats:

Only 4 points actually separated these teams in the standings as they both put up 47 wins with the difference being VAN's ability to take 4 extra games into OT. Looking at the stats in detail however does not favour Dallas on paper as Dallas' strengths also for the most part happen to be Vancouver's strengths. Dallas struggled offensively all season and made their name on their stellar defense, finishing third in the league in goals against backed by a top 5 penalty kill who job was made easy because Dallas took less penalties than only six other teams. Vancouver's stats prove that they can match that defense at even strength and are backed by a superior offense. Where Vancouver struggled and where Dallas will have to look to take advantage if they want to win this series is playing a disciplined aggressive game that puts Vancouver into the penalty box. The Canucks were one of the most penalized teams in the CMHL this season and sport a bottom third penalty kill. If Dallas can get under their skin and get them in the box, their power play is proficient enough to convert that into goals. 

The difference maker in this series could be goaltending as Dallas will be going into the series with the surprising Jake Allen in net. Fredrik Andersen was the mainstay #1 goalie for the first two thirds of the year but struggled to maintain consistency and Allen was given a chance and ran with it to great success. Among goalies playing more than 20 games this year, Allen finished the season with a 22-7 record, a league-leading Save % and the 2nd best GAA - second only to VAN's backup Carey Price. The bulk of those numbers came down the stretch to the playoffs and the Stars are coming into Round 1 hot, having won their last 5 games and 8 of their last 10. 

ICHF - Minnesota North Stars/DAL (4) vs False Creek Flaming Poo/WPG (5)

Season Series: Each team won a game with a third going to the North Stars in a shootout. Scoring was pretty even with the Poo outscoring the North Stars 12-11.

Team Stats:

With nearly identical records, these two teams fought right down to the wire for the ICHF Central Division Title and it ultimately came down to Minnesota winning a shootout in the final game of the season against the Poo. This looks to be a heck of a series as they pick right back up from that shootout and continue the fight!

Much like their pro-level Stars, the Minnesota North Stars are a team built on defence, with their goalies coming three goals shy of winning the Jennings Trophy for the lowest goals against on the year. Cory Schneider and Karel Vejmelka both put up Vezina Caliber seasons though neither will likely be a serious candidate as they more or less evenly split the load this season. Going into the playoffs, Cory Schneider will be given the pipes as he finished the season with stronger numbers and carried the bulk of the load in the back half of the season. They will need both these goalies to be on their best games if they hope to come away with a series win against a Poo team that looks very good on paper and can match, if not best, the North Stars in every respect.

In fact, looking over the team stats, its funny how the pro and farm leagues echo each other as the one advantage the North Stars have is with respect to discipline and penalty kill which means the North Stars will look to play the same strategy as the parent team in their efforts against the Poo.

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