Games Played: 37
Goals: 7
Assist: 7
Plus Minus: 3
Penalties in Minutes: 85
Hits: 75
Well for starters, where did this guy come from. I remember when the Stars first signed Roussel I didn’t think much about it, just looking at scouting reports I saw that Roussel went undrafted and was from France, and I personally hadn’t seen much success from French born hockey players. Roussel was signed on July 2nd the same day the Stars re-signed Toby Petersen. In fact here are my exact words from July 2nd when Roussel was signed by the Stars, “Stars add another piece in left winger Antoine Roussel. Likely depth signings for the AHL Texas Stars, since both contracts are two-way deals. Toby Petersen has been with the Stars since the beginning of the 2007-2008 season and tied a career high in points in the 2009-2010 season with 15 points (6g, 9a). Antoine Roussel is a young grinder who can rack up the penalty minutes in his past two AHL seasons with the Providence Bruins and the Chicago Wolves he racked over 250 penalty minutes.” Due to the NHL Lockout, Roussel started the season in the AHL with the Texas Stars where he was a key part in the teams early success, Roussel played in all situations and even on the top six. In 43 games for the Texas Stars, Roussel registered 19 points (8g, 11a) and 107 penalty minutes. Antoine Roussel made his season and NHL debut on February 1st against the Phoenix Coyotes and made a quick impression on all Stars fans everywhere when on a broken play that turned into a breakaway Roussel scored his first NHL goal on Mike Smith. Roussel was able to work in all situations and found himself a nice home on the Dallas Stars penalty kill. Roussel played all three forward positions for the Stars and was a pretty good faceoff man when the Stars needed him to be at 55%. Roussel’s tough and gritty physical play earned him the hearts of many Stars fans who missed this type of player since Steve Ott was traded in the offseason. Roussel also was tied for the team lead in fighting majors with seven. Roussel’s fight card is pretty impressive too as he didn’t just scrap with fourth liners, he often took on big name players on the other team such as: Jarome Iginla, Shea Weber, Brent Seabrook, Chris Stewart, and Zack Kassian. Even while playing in the AHL during the lockout, Roussel was able to draw Edmonton forward Taylor Hall into a fight. Aside from sometimes the unneccessary minor, Roussel was an effective player in the Stars forward rotation and fans should look to continue to see more of number 60 in the future.
Today I will very proudly eat those words I wrote on July 2nd, as Roussel has earned his stripes in the NHL. Roussel is signed through next season and with a new General Manager and a new head coach on the way, we will see how the gritty young frenchman fits into the Stars lineup next season.
