Tobias Stephan next to be sent to minors
Then there were two. The Dallas Stars are expected to assign Tobias Stephan to the minor leagues today, leaving Jonas Hiller and Mark Streit as the only two Swiss nationals in the National Hockey League. Stephan has just three starts this year behind Marty Turco. The Dallas Morning News Stars reports that Stephan will be sent to the Bridgeport (Conn.) Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League today to allow the 25-year old to get some playing time. Bridgeport is the affiliate for the New York Islanders and has three games in three days this weekend. The Stars are then expected recall Brent Krahn from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves to fulfill backup duties.
The move is not unexpected seeing how little Stephan has played for the Stars this season and is undoubtedly necessary for his development. Still, Swiss hockey fans can be forgiven for feeling disappointed with the timing. Stephan’s demotion follows similar moves by Luca Sbisa earlier this week and Martin Gerber last week. At the start of the year there were six Swiss players in the NHL (Yannick Weber, who had a brief spell at Montreal, Hiller, Streit, Sbisa, Gerber and Stephan), with four seeing regular ice time with their clubs. Hiller and Streit are now the only two that are left and Streit is injured (listed as day to day he missed last night’s Islanders’ game in Florida). Hiller also sat out last night’s Anaheim Ducks loss at Nashville, though he had previously started five in a row for the Orange County club.
