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After Promising Training Camp, Stars Forward Finally Gets His NHL Chance

taylor newby
·2 min read

Making the NHL can be one of the toughest things for a player, and even when Arttu Hyry impressed the Dallas Stars coaching staff enough to last until the final training camp cut, the depth of the team sent him to the AHL to wait until the opportunity presented itself.

Now Hyry gets his long awaited chance, as the Stars announced that he was called up Thursday morning in anticipation of making his NHL debut Thursday night against the Ottawa Senators.

Hyry joins Roope Hintz, Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell as the fourth member of the Finnish mafia that has had a strong presence in Dallas over the last few seasons.

So far in the AHL, Hyry has impressed with 14 goals and 12 assists in only 29 games played. He is second on the Texas Stars in goals and third in overall points, posting a +10 rating. He just recorded his first professional hat trick against Manitoba on Dec. 29, and has his goals in three straight for Texas.

He has proven that the strong showing in training camp was not a fluke, and that he was able to showcase his play at the AHL level and earn the call-up to the NHL.

Hyry replaces Justin Hryckowian, who played two games for Dallas but was benched for the entire third period Tuesday against Buffalo. Head coach Pete DeBoer said it was more about getting Hintz more ice time by double-shifting him on the fourth line, but the writing was on the wall that it might have been time to try someone else in his place.

Hyry was signed in April in another savvy move by General Manager Jim Nill, and has paid off the low-risk signing with his impressive play in North America. He came off an impressive showing in the Finnish Liiga with Karpat last season where he had 31 points and a +19 rating.

The Stars and Senators play at 7 p.m. Thursday, and Hyry's debut can be seen locally on Victory+ and nationally on ESPN+.

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