No holiday hockey tournament is more synonymous with Chicago than the Santa Shootout held at Johnny's IceHouse. No coach is more synonymous with the Santa Shootout than Nick Panos. Nick has been taking teams to this annual eggnog for years and said, "This has to be one of the best big-city tournaments around: the kids have fun playing at the Chicago Blackhawks' official practice location and the parents get to spend time with each other cheering on their favorite team."

Holiday cheer was just what the Stars enjoyed after unwrapping their final Christmas gift of the year by winning the Shootout 2-1 over a tough Chicago Hawks team. Stars netminder Mairead Harris took home the MVP honors by making several key saves in the waning minutes of the third period of the championship game. "The team really played great and I have to hand out some stocking stuffers to the defensive unit, led by Alex Thomas, Ibraham Arifi, Alex Leftakes and John Jarosz," said Harris.

The Hawks were about ready to deliver some lumps of coal after taking a 1-0 lead into the third period before James Gorman delivered the first present to the back of the Hawks net to tie the game. "The offense -- Lance Medina, Owen Mirka, Jack Muir, John Panos, Matt Schauwecker, and Casey Roman -- played great in all four of the games this week; the pressure they created in the Hawk's zone is the reason we won,” noted Panos.

Ian Carpenter decorated the opposing team’s net with the game winner, a backhander over the right shoulder of the Hawk’s goalie. The Santa shindig saw the Stars contributing to the holiday spirit by outscoring their opponents 21-6 over the four game series. Happy New Year!

Game Notes

Stars assistant coach Joe Walker, who was traveling with his son and Stars defenseman Joey Walker in northern Michigan for the holidays remarked, "I was about to pop in the old Slap Shot DVD with the family and then got the word from Coach. Way to go team!"

Stars forward Max Abramov, traveling to Russia for the holidays, could not be reached via satellite for comment.

Stars defensive coordinator Ted Ward, skiing in Colorado for the holidays, Skyped in, "We are having a great time, congrats, and Happy New Year!"