Stars Place Mattias Norstrom on IR; Recall Mark Fistric from Iowa

[Thrillhouse]

FRISCO, Tex. - The Dallas Stars announced today that the club has placed defenseman Mattias Norstrom on the injured reserve list retroactive to November 9. The Stars also recalled defenseman Mark Fistric from the Iowa Stars, Dallas' primary development affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL).

Norstrom, 35, suffered a small fracture to his orbital bone in the Stars' Nov. 7 contest at San Jose and will be re-evaluated in two weeks. He has gone scoreless with 12 penalty minutes in 15 games this season. In 852 career NHL games with Los Angeles and Dallas, Norstrom has posted 16 goals and 136 assists for 152 points with 633 penalty minutes. He has added two assists and 38 PIM in 38 career Stanley Cup Playoff games.

The native of Stockholm, Sweden, was acquired by Dallas from Los Angeles on February 27, 2007, with Konstantin Pushkarev and two 2007 draft picks in exchange for Jaroslav Modry, Johan Fransson, a 2008 first-round pick and two 2007 draft selections. The 6-2, 210-pound defenseman is a two-time NHL All-Star (1999, 2004) and has twice represented Sweden in the Winter Olympics (1998, 2002). He was chosen to Team Sweden for the 2006 Winter Olympics, but missed the Games due to health reasons.

Fistric, 21, has skated in 15 games for Iowa this season, recording a goal and an assist for two points with 30 penalty minutes. In his first professional season last year with Iowa, the 6-2, 232-lb. defenseman registered 24 points (two goals, 22 assists) and 83 penalty minutes, and added 16 PIM in 12 Calder Cup Playoff games.

The native of Edmonton, Alta., was Dallas' first-round selection (No. 28 overall) in the 2004 Entry Draft. In five seasons with the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League, Fistric posted 11 goals and 46 assists for 57 points with 453 penalty minutes. He served as Vancouver's captain during the 2005-06 campaign, in which the club won the WHL crown and participated in the Memorial Cup tournament.

[HordiBrusk29]

Awesome. I hope Fistric is able to get into a few games.

[Manimal]

I wish Fistric would fight more. He's good.

[McDonald19]

I remember on his draft day the TSN guys were making a big deal about his toughness.

1 AHL fight?? What happened?

[HordiBrusk29]

Originally Posted by McDonald19

I remember on his draft day the TSN guys were making a big deal about his toughness.

1 AHL fight?? What happened?

Fistric is tough but you shouldn't take what those idiots on TSN say too seriously. He's far from some heavyweight. His biggest asset is his size and strength which allows him to keep his opponent at bay for the most part. These same clowns on TSN also claim that Colton Gillies and Keaton Ellerby were really tough (on draft day) when they really aren't. Both guys will fight if need be, but are far from what should be considered tough.

[Juha82]

Strong defensive defenseman Norstrom is a good leader too.
Exemplary for his team.
This IR to causes of some problems for Stars Team, though.