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Stars get even tougher, ink former Pens fighter Eric Godard to two-year deal

Pittsburgh Penguins v New York Islanders

UNIONDALE, NY - FEBRUARY 11: Trevor Gillies #14 of the New York Islanders fights Eric Godard #28 of the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 11, 2011 at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. The Isles defeated the Pens 9-3. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

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The Dallas Stars were already a team with plenty of toughness. With the likes of Steve Ott and Krys Barch around to agitate and throw their fists around, you’d be hard pressed to call Dallas a “soft” team. GM Joe Nieuwendyk decided today that there was no chance at all that the Stars would be lacking in the toughness department as he decided to sign up former Pittsburgh Penguins enforcer Eric Godard to a two-year contract.

Godard spent the last three seasons in Pittsburgh totaling up 135 games played in that time with three goals, seven assists, and 352 penalty minutes in that time. Godard has also played for the Calgary Flames and New York Islanders before that over an eight year career. His time in Pittsburgh, however, will best be remembered for what he did last season in a pair of games against the Islanders.

On February 11th, Godard racked up 31 penalty minutes in a brawlfest that saw Godard take on Isles punching machine Trevor Gillies twice through the game, the second time after Gillies fought with Penguins goaltender Brent Johnson. Godard came off of the bench to defend his goaltender and was smacked with a ten-game suspension for leaving the bench. Godard and Gillies had a second go-round in their re-match on April 8 at Nassau Coliseum, but the other histrionics were kept to a minimum as both players each earned 15 minutes in penalties.

Two games and 46 penalty minutes means that anyone stepping out of line against the Stars might have someone else to deal with aside from Barch. Godard’s deal with Dallas is a two-way deal in its first year and a one-way contract in the second year. With a deal worth $1.45 million over the two years, Godard’s cap hit is good for $725,000 the next two seasons.

Should he find a way to make time for himself in Dallas, a fourth line featuring Godard and Barch makes us fear for the faces of the Western Conference’s other brawlers. Even Coyotes’ Twitter superstar Paul Bissonnette is a bit worried.

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Dallas getting more intimidating will help protect guys like Jamie Benn, Mike Ribeiro, and Michael Ryder. Not a bad choice for Nieuwendyk and the Stars to protect them as much as possible.