Happenings in Frisco

The Stars players are starting to gather in Frisco and working out each day about 9:45 a.m. Everyone appears healthy and ready to go. Among the walking wounded from the end of last season who look great are: Sergei Zubov, Brenden Morrow and Jere Lehtinen. Morrow, who played through a lot of shoulder pain in the playoffs, said he didn't need any surgery. He said some rest made him feel 100 percent better, and now he's ready to get going again. Also on hand are Fabian Brunnstrom, Ray Sawada and James Neal. The three rookies all have a chance of making the opening day roster. Brunnstrom is pretty much penciled in already and that would give the Stars 12 forwards. They can carry 14. The three also will be with the team when they travel to Traverse City, Mich. Sept 13-17 for an eight-team prospects tournament. Brunnstrom, 23, was a prized free agent signing out of Sweden, but he still is getting used to the smaller ice of North America. ``It's an adventure,'' he said. ``The game is faster here, so you have to do all the things faster here. The game is more fun over here. The small rink makes the game more fun.'' A couple of updates from co-GM Les Jackson: Lauri Tukonen, a skilled winger acquired from Los Angeles will be at training camp. He currently is playing with Ilves in Finland, but will come over and try to make the roster. If he doesn't, he will return to Finland for the remainder of the season. The Stars have signed veteran goalie Brent Krahn, formerly of the Flames organization as their potential No. 3 goalie. Former college goalie Matt Climie will be in the organization, but has yet to play pro hockey, and Tobias Stephan is a young and unproven backup to Marty Turco, so Krahn will be a safety valve if necessary. He currently is rehabilitating an injury, but should be ready by December. He was 6-5-3 with a 2.49 GAA playing for Quad Cities (AHL) last season. Konstantin Pushkarev also is on the camp roster, although he is not yet signed as a restricted free agent. Jackson said if Pushkarev comes to camp and does a good job, they will talk contract. The Stars retain his rights no matter what. The Stars will be dividing up their prospects this year as they transition from an AHL affiliate in Iowa last season to an AHL affiliate in the Austin-area next season. If these players are not on the Stars roster, here is where they are expected to be playing: Manitoba: RW Ray Sawada, LW James Neal, D Maxime Fortunas. Peoria: D Ivan Vishnevskiy, RW Chris Conner. Grand Rapids: RW Landon Wilson, C Aaron Gagnon, D Garrett Stafford. Hamilton: D Dan Jancevski, RW Tyler Shelast. Iowa: C Perttu Lindgren, LW Francis Wathier. Timra (Sweden): C Tom Wandell Ilves (Finland): RW Lauri Tukonen. To be decided (Probably Idaho of ECHL): LW John Lammers, G Matt Climie, D Trevor Ludwig. I've noticed B.J. Crombeen is missing from our list, so I'll check that today. The Icebreaker is Sept. 13 at The Galleria (10 a.m.-2 p.m.) and training camp starts Sept. 19 in Frisco, so we're getting close to hockey season.Source