08/06/2006

'Mates on skates' shine for Stars

Longtime friends Dahlinger and Blake take to TC

FROM STAFF REPORTS

On Saturday at Centre ICE arena, their aim was to justify their high draft positions and play their way onto the North Stars roster during the weekend-long invitation-only camp.

It isn't a package deal, but it might as well be. Dahlinger and Blain have been playing together since they were six years old, and could well find themselves in adjoining lockers again this fall when the North Stars open their second season of North American Hockey League action.

"I think we're pretty lucky, actually," said Dahlinger, Traverse City's first round pick in May's NAHL entry draft (fourth overall). "Not too many guys get a chance to play alongside a good friend like we've been able to."

Dahlinger and Blain, a fourth round selection, rode their synergy to a 32-12-4 record last season with the Chatham Maroons, leading the club to a third straight Western Junior Hockey League championship.

"They're winners, plain and simple," said North Stars head coach Scott Gardiner. "And while they bring a ton of skill in here, you can't really quantify what they bring in terms of that winning experience. These are two veteran players who we think could really help us do some pretty special things this year."

Dahlinger is coming off a season in which he led the Maroons with 25 goals and 49 assists in 48 games. Blain contributed 23 goals and assisted on 38 others, and registered an astonishing six game-winners.

"We just seem to work well together, and you can chalk that up to playing together for so many years," Blain explained. "It's the kind of thing where you know where the other guy is going to be, how he's going to play a certain puck, and you can use that to your advantage, and that's what we've tried to do."

Dahlinger and Blain spent last season on the same line, and Gardiner has had them penciled in alongside one another since draft day.

"They have that kind of trust on the ice you just don't find all too often," Gardiner explained. "I mean, you see on throw a puck into a certain area, just because he knows the other will be there. It's a pretty rare thing, and we think we can use that to our advantage this year."

The camp concludes with today's Blue & White game at Centre ICE arena. Face-off is slated for noon.