First Shift 🏒

The Stars have leaned on their AHL affiliate a lot this year.

A franchise that has been relatively healthy the previous two seasons has three key forwards out of the lineup in Seguin (hip surgery), Mason Marchment (facial surgery) and Roope Hintz (upper body). As a result, recalls have been made for Matěj Blümel, Arttu Hyry and Justin Hryckowian, and those players have had to take on key minutes at an important time of the year.

“Every organization, you get to this point of the season and your depth gets tested,” said Stars coach Pete DeBoer. “So those guys have to come up and contribute. We have a good American League team and the guys we have called up have done a good job. The list is long and we’ve gotten a lot of contributions from that group of guys.”

Blümel is the most recent call-up and maybe one of the most interesting. A fourth-round draft pick by Edmonton in 2019, he is in his third year in the Stars organization. He played six NHL games in the 2022-23 season and has logged five games this year. The 24-year-old forward said he feels more confident every time he gets called up.

“It feels different because I feel I’m a better player overall,” Blümel said. “I got better at playing a 200-foot game. I’m happy to get this opportunity to show how hard I’ve been working in the AHL.”

Blümel this season has 32 points (18 goals, 14 assists) in 32 games with the Texas Stars. Hyry has 26 points (14 goals, 12 assists) and Hryckowian has 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists). The fact they are older and have “been around,” so to speak, makes it easier for DeBoer to use them.

“The nice thing is it’s the second or third time around for a lot of them,” DeBoer said. “Once you get through that first recall, the nerves disappear. I’m comfortable that we’re past that with these guys now.”

That said, the challenge to play a different style is real. At the AHL level, these forwards play top minutes in all situations. They are expected to score goals and they probably take more risks. In the NHL, the key is to play smart and not make mistakes.

“It’s harder here, for sure,” Blümel said. “Down there, you have extra time for everything. But with every shift I’m feeling more comfortable.”

DeBoer said his only real hope is to get players who can help the team win.

“I don’t think it’s tricky, but it’s a different responsibility than what he does in the American League,” DeBoer said. “He has to be sure that we can trust him out there. I’m not even talking produce. I’m talking, let me play you for 10, 12, 14 minutes and let me feel good about it. That’s where we have to start with those guys.”

But he does need that trust.

“It’s not training camp,” DeBoer said. “We’re in the middle of the season and there are critical points on the line every night. That’s the challenge.”

Mix in the fact that these teammates are battling each other to satisfy their NHL dream, all the while knowing that Seguin, Marchment and Hintz are coming back and that the Stars might trade for more forwards, and the competition can get tough. But Blümel said they actually rely upon one another for support.

“It’s great because we have a really good group of guys down there and we’re all friends, so it’s fun to see those guys get called up,” Blümel said.

The last few weeks haven’t been kind to the San Antonio Spurs. Back-to-back blowout losses to the Memphis Grizzlies leave them two games below .500 and losers in four of their last five games. Somehow, it’s still better than what’s happening in South Beach.

The Miami Heat leads the league in bad vibes. Jimmy Butler is back after a seven-game suspension for breaking team policy. The Heat’s best player hasn’t looked engaged since requesting a trade earlier this year. Without Butler, Miami has focused on establishing its youth as the franchise’s core. Tyler Herro is having a career year, Bam Adebayo is a defensive anchor, and young pieces like Nikola Jovic and Jaime Jaquez Jr. have shown flashes.

The Heat are a formidable opponent with Erik Spoelstra at the helm, regardless of who is on the roster. Still, they’ll be a step down from the competition the Spurs have faced in January, especially from teams like Memphis. San Antonio’s schedule doesn’t get much easier from here as a trip to Paris looms. The Spurs have an opportunity to steal a win on the road against a Miami team just trying to stay out of the headlines.

January 19, 2025 | 2 PM CT

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Spurs Injuries: Jeremy Sochan – Out (back), Riley Minix – Out (G League), David Duke Jr. – Out (G League), Harrison Ingram – Out (G League)

Heat Injuries: Bam Adebayo – Available (back), Josh Christopher – Questionable (G League), Josh Richardson – Out (heel), Dru Smith – Out (achilles), Isaiah Stevens – Out (G League)

What to watch for:

Winning the hustle game

They don’t call them the toughest, best-conditioned, meanest franchise in the NBA for nothing. #HeatCulture will be out in full force on Sunday. San Antonio has to rise to the challenge. In all seriousness, the Heat are a top-10 defensive team in the NBA. Adebayo is a defensive force, and they have enough weapons around him to cause opposing teams headaches. San Antonio’s offense has been anything but consistent lately. That will need to change to overcome a tough Heat team.

Containing the three-point line

In two straight games against Memphis, the Spurs got lit up from three. The Heat are eighth in the NBA in three-pointers per game. Herro is a threat off the dribble, Duncan Robinson is one of the league’s best movement shooters, and Haywood Highsmith is a nice three-and-D wing. The Spurs must contain ball handlers and get out to shooters to keep Miami from getting hot.

Getting Wembanyama going

Victor Wembanyama has taken a step back after putting up insane stats in December. He seemed to float in and out of the game offensively against Memphis. Mitch Johnson should make a concerted effort to get his superstar big man back on track against Miami. Watch to see if San Antonio runs more intentional action to get Wembanyama the ball in spots where he’s comfortable, either on the perimeter or in the paint. A bounce-back Wembanyama performance could get him back on track before he heads home later this week.

ATLANTA – The annual Beloved Community Awards by The King Center kicked off a weekend of remembrance and service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It’s a night to honor people working to make the world a more just place.

But the injustice of an unhoused man’s death, caused by an Atlanta City Public Works truck during a sweep of the encampment where he was sleeping, weighed heavily on many of the civil rights leaders gathered at the ceremony.

MLK Beloved Community Awards

The music, glitz and glamor of the annual awards ceremony shined bright Saturday evening.

As celebrities and community leaders came together to honor those working to carry out Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of a “beloved community.”

Actress Jenifer Lewis, who’s starred in many movies and T.V. shows including Black-ish, received an award during the ceremony.

“I’ve had a lot of wonderful occasions in these 68 years, but this is the most wonderful. The glory and the hallelujah of it all when people come together, stand strong and unite,” Lewis said.

Civil rights leaders concerned about homeless man’s death

But the death of a man who was homeless at the hands of an Atlanta City Public Works truck while they were trying to sweep the encampment where he was staying on Old Wheat Street Thursday, happened just a few hundred feet away from The King Center. 

Dr. Bernice King, CEO of the King Center and daughter of the late Dr. King lamented the tragedy.

“I just wish that the person who did this would’ve thought about ‘hey let’s check the tents, let’s make sure human beings are not present’ before they cleared out the camp,” King said.

FOX 5 was at another MLK Day event in Stone Mountain and caught up with the President of Hosea Helps Elisabeth Omilami.

She decried the tragedy and says the death feels too similar to the deaths of the two sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968.

“It reminds me of the gentlemen who were crushed by the garbage truck in Memphis at Martin Luther King’s last speech where he was assassinated in Memphis,” Omilami said.  

State President of the NAACP Gerald Griggs was at Saturday’s awards ceremony and says it shows how badly the City needs to make changes.

“We don’t need to move people when we’re having international guests. I think Dr. King would want us to embrace those unhoused brothers and sisters and do more to provide the necessary funds and housing for them,” Griggs said.  

How City of Atlanta leaders are responding

In a statement, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said the city will “review each of our processes and procedures and take every precaution to ensure this never happens again.”

Dr. King says the King Center stands ready to help them do that.  

“We’re looking forward at The King Center to possibly working with the City to train people on how to carry out what they’re trained to do in a humane way,” King said.  

Some activists have accused the City of clearing the homeless encampment because of its proximity to The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Park and the upcoming holiday.

But the City denies that. 

In a statement, Cathry Vassell, CEO for Partners for HOME, which works with the City to get people housed, said they had been working with this encampment for months to try and get them off the streets prior to this sweep.

“The first engagement with this encampment began the week of April 5, 2024. Individuals began transitioning to shelter on June 7, 2024. Through these ongoing efforts, 21 individuals have been connected to shelter and housing,” her statement reads.