The NBA announced today that Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki was named All-NBA First Team. It is the sixth consecutive season Nowitzki has been named All-NBA and his second consecutive year garnering First Team honors. Last season he was the first Maverick in franchise history to be named All-NBA First Team.

This season Nowitzki averaged a career-high 26.6 points a game (ranking seventh in the NBA), while also registering 9.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.02 blocks in 38.1 minutes per contest. Nowitzki posted career-highs in field goal percentage (48.0%), three-point percentage (40.6%) and free throw percentage (90.1%). He finished third in MVP voting and was named Western Conference Player of the Month in December, the fourth time he has received that honor.

So far this postseason, Nowitzki ranks in the Top 10 among Playoff performers in points (fifth with 27.6 ppg) and rebounds (ninth with 9.8 rpg).

Nowitzki is joined on the First Team by reigning Most Valuable Player Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns), Kobe Bryant (L.A. Lakers), Shaquille O’Neal (Miami Heat) and LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers).

The voting results were as follows:

2005-06 ALL-NBA FIRST TEAM

Position - Player, Team (1st Team Votes), Points

Forward - LeBron James, Cleveland (116), 610

Forward - Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas (105), 584

Center - Shaquille O’Neal, Miami (45), 402

Guard - Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers (110), 597

Guard - Steve Nash, Phoenix (106), 583

2005-06 ALL-NBA SECOND TEAM

Position - Player, Team (1st Team Votes), Points

Forward - Elton Brand, L.A. Clippers (15), 309

Forward - Tim Duncan, San Antonio (17), 277

Center - Ben Wallace, Detroit (44), 363

Guard - Chauncey Billups, Detroit (21), 378

Guard - Dwyane Wade, Miami (13), 373

2005-06 ALL-NBA THIRD TEAM

Position - Player, Team (1st Team Votes) Points

Forward - Shawn Marion, Phoenix (4), 270

Forward - Carmelo Anthony, Denver , 97

Center - Yao Ming, Houston (30), 261

Guard - Allen Iverson, Philadelphia (1), 104

Guard - Gilbert Arenas, Washington, 79

The Dallas Stars begin a season-long six-game road swing when they visit Toronto on Saturday for a featured game on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada. The team is off to the second-best start in club history with a record of 18-7-1 for 37 points, going 12-2-0 in the last 14 games. The team is also 8-2-0 on the road in 2005-06.

 

The team has found success thanks to solid goaltending, balanced play throughout the lineup, and by scoring timely goals. A good number of those goals have come on the power play, with the Stars tying a franchise record by scoring with the man-advantage in 17 consecutive games.

Curious minds started to wonder: what is the NHL record for consecutive games with a power play goal? The answer was found with a quick call to the Elias Sports Bureau and it provided this fact -- the Dallas Stars have the opportunity to break that league record before they return to American Airlines Center.

The 1989-90 New York Rangers hold the NHL record, scoring a power play goal in 21 consecutive games from February to April of that spring.

The Stars have spread the wealth around during this current streak, with 10 different players scoring a total of 24 power play goals over the last 17 games and 14 different players earning points. Eight of those goals gave the Stars the lead in the game while two others tied the contest at that point.

Stars Head Coach Dave Tippett preaches three main keys to the team on having a successful power play: Effort, execution and finish. He says that if you don't have those three elements on your priority list when your team has the man-advantage, you cannot have consistent success at putting the puck in the net.

"First and foremost, if your power play is going to be successful, you have to work and have effort," said Tippett. "I was a penalty-killer for a long time in the league, I know that the mindset is to go out there and out-work the other five players. If your power play is out-worked by the penalty killers, you're going to be in trouble right from the get-go."

Effort will get you nowhere without proper execution by the unit.

"You have to make plays under pressure and support each other and make good plays that allow players to get chances," said Tippett. "A simple pass for a one-timer is a good example; if the pass is too much in front or too far behind, you're not executing. You have to maximize your chances to score."

 

Of course effort and execution are both moot points if a team can't finish the play and get the final result of a goal.

"You can have the prettiest hard-working power play ever, but if you don't score on your chances it doesn't mean anything," said Tippett.

The Stars look to continue scoring whenever they get chances on this trip and extend their current four-game winning streak. Who knows? Maybe they'll come back with an NHL record that they can continue building upon.

STARGAZING

If you weren't at American Airlines Center on Friday for the game vs. Carolina, you missed out. The 5-4 win for Dallas in the shootout was quite simply one of the most exciting regular season games for the Stars since moving into the arena in 2001. The Hurricanes came in as one of the hottest teams in the league and Dallas was right there with them. It was quite fitting that the game went to overtime and eventually the first-ever home shootout in Stars history. When Mike Modano's slid the puck past Canes goalie Martin Gerber to win it for the home team, the celebration was on for the home crowd and was a great ending to a great game.

The Stars host Florida this Wednesday for your next chance to see some exciting hockey (7:30 p.m.).

Dallas' shootout win on Friday marked the first time a shooter had missed for the Stars this season in the competition when Sergei Zubov missed on Dallas' first attempt (the Stars are now 6-for-7 in shootout attempts this season). The goal by Carolina's Matt Cullen was also the first goal given up by Dallas in a shootout this season.

Mike Modano's game-winner in the shootout was his first-ever attempt in a shootout. Since the shootout goal counts as a "team goal," his effort was not officially a hat trick (Modano scored two goals in regulation).

Dallas has won three-straight games and is 11-2-0 over their past 13 games. They are also tied for their third-best start in franchise history after 25 games, registering a 17-7-1 record for 35 points.

The Stars have now scored a power play goal in 16-straight games from Oct. 28 - Dec. 2. The 16-game power play goal streak is the second longest in team-history. The franchise record is 17-straight games with a power play goal from Oct. 11 - Nov. 18, 1986.

Sergei Zubov's assist on Friday night tied him with Craig Hartsburg for the most assists among defensemen in franchise-history with 315.

Times are pretty good for the Dallas Stars these days. The team is in first place in the Pacific Division with 35 points and has three games in-hand on second place Los Angeles, which has 33 points. In fact, the Stars have played less games than any team in the Pacific Division (25).

 

But that doesn't mean there isn't work to be done. Its ironic that a big part of the "work" that the team is doing right now is making sure it takes advantage of the schedule to get what Head Coach Dave Tippett calls "maximum rest."

Dallas is in the middle of a stretch that sees the team play only six games in a span of 21 days (Nov. 27-Dec. 17). But beginning on Dec. 18, the Stars will play 29 games in 57 days, which computes to an average of one game every 1.96 days. This will take the team all the way to the Olympic Break in February.

Tippett, always organized with an eye for what's ahead for the team, saw a golden opportunity Friday to get his number one net-minder some advance rest while getting Johan Hedberg an important start in goal.

Hedberg responded with a 5-4 win against one of the best teams from the Eastern Conference in Carolina.

"(Friday's) win was a big one for us," said Tippett. "Johan made some big stops for us, especially in overtime and the shootout. It was good to see him get a win and give Marty a chance to have a full week off before we hit a very important stretch in our schedule."

There is no question that Turco has been one of the main factors in Dallas' recent success, winning 11 of the last 13 games. It has been a complete team effort, but it all starts and ends with the goaltender.

"Every team needs a backbone that makes them solid all the way throughout and Turco has really been our backbone over the last month or so," said Tippett. "We gave him a little bit of a break at the beginning of November to let him work on his game a little and to his credit he's worked hard and he's come out and been that solid backbone that we need. He just gives us a chance to win in every game and that is really all you can ask from a goaltender. He's getting us wins."

Turco is following his coach's advice and taking advantage of the current light schedule.

"I naturally want to play in every game but also recognize the value in getting rests at opportune times," said Turco. "We've been getting wins and we need to keep working hard as a team and keep the consistent play going. We win as a team and we want to keep the wins going."