Finally, A Second Point

Dallas pulls out their first win after regulation, topping the Maple Leafs three to four. Sure, Toronto is the worst team in the NHL, but a win is a win. There is an underlying storyline to this game though. Marty Turco vs Jonas Gustavsson. What's the big deal, he's just a rookie, right? In a way yes, but he left a bad taste in GM Joe Nieuwendyk's mouth. Before the season, Dallas was courting him, trying to win him over other teams and getting him to sign in Big D. It came down to Toronto and Dallas, and we can see how that turned out. This is why we didn't draft any goaltenders this year; we were so confident he'd join Fabian Brunnstrom in signing here. However he jilted us despite throwing out a first pitch for the (Texas) Rangers. All was not lost though; we traded for Alex Auld who has proven to be a worthy backup and the rest will be left as what could have been.

First Period (0-0)
No scoring. Stars seemed sluggish but I do give credit to Toronto, they came out fighting.
Second Period (1-1)
Dallas couldn't score from in front of the net, so Brad Richards decided to try it from behind and bingo, off Ian White and in. Toronto flattered us by imitating Richards and Nikolai Kulemin tied it up with his own "strange bounce from behind the net" goal.
Third Period (3-3)
Richards scores from in front this time on a nice slap shot during the five on three power play. Lee Stempniak tied it back up on yet another play eerily similar to how Richards previously scored. Worry set in when Kulemin netted his second of the night after Turco lost sight of his rebound, putting Toronto up by one. Then Mike Ribeiro had one of the best tips I have ever seen. Jamie Benn shot it, and from out at the end of the circle Ribeiro tipped it with his back to the net going top shelf on a play I doubt anyone could recreate.
Overtime (3-4)
This never seems to play out well for the Stars. Well, never say never. This overtime is EXACTLY what the NHL was aiming for when making it four on four hockey. Huge chances for both teams going up and down the ice, major saves, and heavy hitting. James Neal deservedly gets the game winning goal on a nice rebound to finally get us the second point in extra time.


-Matt Niskanen returns to the lineup, and in a big way, assisting on both of the Richards goals.
-Mike Modano aims to be back in Friday's game.
-25 on penalty kill, 21 on power play.
-Dallas seems to have some talent on their AHL team.
-It has been brought to my attention that the Stars Dancers are pretty pointless. To be honest this is true. They don't get the crowd into it like cheerleaders try to, because no matter how much they dance, if the Stars aren't winning or hitting, the crowd is out of it. My guess is they're just there to try and entice males to go to the games. The NHL needs all the help they can get. For example, while touring the Associated Press yesterday for my journalism class, one of the writers discussed how the different sports have different policies on when the press can talk and get involved with players. Baseball was three hours before every game, football for short periods of time a few days a week, and hockey was referred to as "very good with the press because they'll take all the publicity they can get." That being said, the dancers are useless and to be honest not very good. After Neal's goal they showed a clip and a girl in the back row was facing backwards when the rest were facing the ice. Way to bring your A game girls.


Up Next:
Well I'm in kind of a jam. The next two Dallas games are Friday and Saturday. Friday I'll be at a concert and Saturday in Denton. Not sure how good those posts will be, but I'll do my best. The Florida Panthers roll into Dallas for the Friday game. They aren't very good either, so I'll take Dallas yet again to win. Florida 2 Dallas 4

Feelin' Good After The Blues

Solid game from Marty Turco and solid play from the rest of the team, winning four to one. The Blues had plenty of chances, and Dallas has an answer for all but one of them. This game could have easily seen four or more goals by both teams, but I'll take this win any day. Brenden Morrow is without a doubt the heart of this team, regardless of being held off the scoreboard. He has steely eyes for a magnetic puck, and fights from whistle to whistle. He doesn't care if the puck is under the goalie, on his pads, or resting on top of the net. If the play hasn't been blown dead, his stick is reaching for the rubber. His ethic is contagious, and the team is responding. Great game on paper, but too many Stars were awkwardly hit and roughed up to call it a perfect night. It seems we escaped relatively unharmed so that's a plus.



First Period (0-0)
No scoring after this gritty period. Plenty of break away type chances for both teams, all followed up by great stops by the goaltenders and posts. Two fights, compliments of Krys Barch and Brian Sutherby. Two losses compliments of D.J. King and Brad Winchester. Barch may have lost the battle, but he won the war since King left the game with an upper body injury.
Second Period (2-0)
Wouldn't you know, Real Deal Neal opened up the scoring in this game. Quick shot at an angle caught Ty Conklin off guard. Steve Ott created a mini brawl after hip checking (and flipping) Carlo Colaiacovo, who left the game afterwards. Relatively clean hit but Ott will have a phone conference with the NHL, hopefully just to tell him not to do it again.**Breaking News** While finishing up the third period, I recieved a text from ESPN saying Ott will be suspended for two games** Fans were furious that Dallas ended up with a four minute powerplay afterwards, causing them to unify in what I deciphered as a "Referees suck" chant. Loui Ericksson scored after some spin-arama moves by Brad Richards who is racking up assists and dominating his role on the power play.
Third Period (4-1)
Tom Wandell gets an easy tap in since every Blue targeted Fabian Brunsstrom. Brian Sutherby decided to get in on the action, so he stole the puck from Brad Winchester, walked in, and put it away. The only scorecard blemish came when Alex Pietrangelo ruined Turco's attempt at another shutout. Can't blame Marty for this one though, it deflected off Jeff Woywitka, who ironically enough started his career in St. Louis. They didn't go down quietly. B.J. Crombeen decided to take a crack at Ott after he tripped him up. Wasn't much of a fight though, more of a grapple.



-One of my favorite (in an evil way) things to see in hockey is hard hitting, in particular hits involving the surroundings. What I'm referring to is two players rubbing against the boards in front of the benches ending in one player leaning over into the teams bench and getting clipped by the glass at the end where the bench ends and fan seating begins. Tonight it happened to former Star B.J. Crombeen.
-Stars killed all five of the St. Louis power plays, bringing us up to 25 at an even 75 percent.
-One for seven on the power play, now 21 at 16.3 percent.
-Good seeing Darryl Sydor again. Any bets on when he'll come back to Dallas?
-The Blues' T.J. Oshie had an emergency apendectimy, leaving him sidelined for a while.
-Turco made 27 saves, and Alex Auld made one from the bench. Dallas pass went awry and Auld was forced to make a save in order to protect the teams medical staff.
-Ott will now miss the last two games of Ott-toberfest...such a shame.
-I'm still finding more ways to change my blog, so if you have any ideas/suggestions let me know. I don't know if this will work, but click here to possibly see video highlights from the game. Subscribe to the blog or comment it so I know John has company reading these.


Up Next:
The Stars come home to play the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are fresh off their first win of the season over the Ducks. Dallas doesn't play their best hockey at home, but Toronto doesn't play good hockey anywhere. Dallas will keep it rolling with an "easy" win. Toronto 1 Dallas 5

Overtime Woes

First and foremost let me say I am proud to be an American, and proud to be a Stars fan as well. MAJOR kuddos to the fans who go to road games (which would technically be home games for the locals) and yell "Stars" in the anthem. My heart warmed when I heard it. The tune usually isn't played on telecasts but for some reason the pregame ceremonies went longer so the game started late. Brad Richards is back from his groin injury, and Matt Niskanen sat out from his head injury. He claims to feel fine though, so I pray he wont miss too much time. My boy Alex Auld did indeed get the start tonight. However, I have one complaint about Auld: His play behind the net is pretty spotty. Had a mishap of turning it over against the Blackhawks which resulted in a goal and nearly had the same thing happen tonight. Sadly the pedestal I put him on has been knocked slightly down.


First Period (1-2)
Kings draw first blood when Anze Kopitar got some seperation on Robidas and Auld couldn't stretch his leg out far enough. Scary moment not long after when Jamie Benn was tripped up while breaking into the zone and slammed into the boards. Sutherby got in a "fight". (I use that quite loosely) Wayne Simmonds took advantage of a Stars turnover resulting in the second tally. Things looked dismal, until Real Deal Neal stole the puck at the blue line, trucked his way towards Quick, and ripped one in. Good thing he scored, I doubt he could have gotten back into the play he was so winded.
Second Period (1-4)
The organ rendition of rock lobster was the only good part about this period. Kopitar scored a second time. Kopitar then scored a third time. First hat trick allowed by the Stars this campaign.
Third Period (4-4)
Jamie Benn rocketed one top shelf to get us fairly back into the game. Too little too late? Mark Fistric fired one from the blue line that made it in to pull us within one. And then the goal that was, then wasn't, but finally was in the end. Real Deal Neal did it again. Flat out wicked wrister that went in and shot right back out was emphatically waved off but after review was called a goal, thus getting us a point in the standings.
Overtime
Less than a minute in, Michal Handzus beat Auld, granting the Kings an extra point and preventing a monumental comeback. Even with this loss, the Stars showed great fight after back to back games. For sure a game to build off of.


-I'm not sure whether NHL.com updates stats in real time, so I'll hold off on the usual statistics. (Gave up another one, didn't score any)
-Some horrible officiating in tonight's game, way too many penalties in the second and Neal's last goal was called off by a referee that seemed so certain he was right. Only he was wrong.
-Alright alright, Auld is human. He wasn't as sharp (saying Quick would be pretty cheesy a second time) and could/should have stopped the game winner. With more playing time I'm certain he would be better.
-Quick made 17 saves. This should be how many the opponents goaltender makes four minutes into the second period.


Up Next:
Finally a few days off before the next game. So strange to say that considering most games are spread out with two or three days between which honestly is pretty annoying. The Blues haven't been spectacular this year, and I think Crawford will whip these boys back into winning form. Give me Dallas over St. Louis, 4-1.

Well I'm happy for the win but still angry with Marty Turco. He played a decent game. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with him playing well. I just want some consistency out of him...is that too much to ask? We dominated the first two periods and the third was a little iffy. Overall a pretty solid game which thankfully resulted in two points and not just one. Steve Ott rejuvinated this team. He and Morrow play a very similar game, which could result in being the backbone of the team this season.


First Period (1-0)
Loooooooui Ericksson had a Morrow-ish goal after fighting in tight for a rebound. Could have had a second but his breakaway was stuffed by Hiller.
Second Period (3-1)
You can't mess up when Mike Ribiero and Brenden Morrow are on the ice. Hiller coughed up the puck behind the net, Ribeiro tapped it to Morrow who in return tapped it in. Did not know Trevor Daley could shoot top shelf on an angle...untill tonight. Ryan Getzlaf suprisingly scored his first of the season tonight on a tired defense pair towards the end of the frame.
Third Period (4-2)
Ducks cut it to one on an ugly Joffrey Lupul goal. Then Anaheim turned it on. Chance after chance resulting in a hectic ending to this one. Despite having clearing problems, Dallas held on and Steve Ott gets tonight's empty net goal to finish them off.


-Two fights tonight, neither of much note.
-Caution: Falling Stars. Modano, Lehtinen, and Richards are out. Ott came back, and now my boy Matt Niskanen is hurt after being up-ended along the boards and landing awkwardly.
-Power play/penalty kill didn't change on NHL.com since I'm actually on time with this game and wasn't with the last.


Up Next:
Thursday night takes us to LA for another shot at the Kings. The team will be tired but Auld will be fresh. (Assuming they stick to starting him) I like the Stars in this one. Dallas 3 Kings 1

Not Quick Enough, Marty.

I guess I should be pretty happy with Marty Turco right now.

"But Matt, he's lost his past two starts!"

This I know. Trust me on that one. All I'm saying is he's making my calling for putting Alex Auld in net even stronger. This is what the team lacked last season. Turco has a bad game, then keeps playing. Why not switch him out? It's not like our backup has beaten two elite teams. Looks like Turco gets the start tonight against the Ducks and Auld will get Thursday's rematch with the Kings. May this be the real measuring stick. Turco gave up three goals to this LA bunch, lets see how Auld stacks up. If Auld does worse, perhaps I will lighten up on this matter. If he fares better (which I bet he will) then there could be some goalie controversy in Big D. Dallas had a fancy goal, but Jonathan Quick out dueled Marty Turco.


First Period (0-1)
Oh captain, my captain. Brenden Morrow makes a wicked no-look pass from behind the net to "Now and Then Jamie Benn" (I want to come up with a cool nickname for him. I know this isn't it, but there has to be something cool. Real Deal Neal can't have all the fun)
Second Period (3-1)
"We three Kings have all scored all goal" (Hum the song when you read that) Dallas lets in three to Ryan Smyth, Justin Williams, and Anze Kopitar. Deflections or not, this is unacceptable.
Third Period (4-1)
Empty netter to Wayne Simmonds, so it doesn't hurt as bad.


-Mike Modano could be out for "several more weeks" according to ESPN
-Power Play has dropped to 21 at 17.1 percent
-Penalty Kill up one spot to 26 at an even 70 percent
-Dallas has more points in the standings than Detroit. Oh yeah.


Up Next:
Tonight we're in Anaheim to play the not so mighty Ducks. Turco's in net and the Ducks lost five-love to the Blues in their last game so I'm calling for an Anaheim victory. Stars 3 Ducks 5

Fox Sports Minus

So this game against the Chicago Blackhawks was not viewable to the majority of Stars fans for one reason: College football. There's some issue where FSN moves certain Stars games to FSN Plus I think it's called because of scheduling conflict. That's all fine and dandy except for most providers don't carry the channel. For that reason, this will be based off what I've read online and the box score. That will make for a lousy scoring recap, but I can tell you one thing for sure. Alex Auld played great. He has two wins out of two starts. Keep in mind these aren't wins against Toronto and Minnesota, these are victories over Calgary and Chicago, two upper echelon teams, both predicted to be heavy contenders for the cup. The season is young, but I like what I see from Auld.

First Period
No scoring
Second Period (3-2)
Brendan Morrow and Mike Ribeiro open the game with tallies. Troy Brouwer got one back for Chicago, then Toby Peterson found the net for Dallas, and Johnathan Toews closed the frame, trying to spark a Blackhawk comeback.
Third Period (4-3)
Now I did see a highlight of Stephane Robidas goal (which turned out to be the game winner) and boy was it one of those "How the..." moments. Simple dump into the corner, bounced out, I'm guessing hit a rut in the ice, and sneaked by into the net. Niklas Hjalmarsson pulled it within one, but they could do no more.

-Stars killed off all penalties, bringing them to 27 in the league at 68 percent.
-Fell to 19 on power play, 19.4 percent.
-Brad Richards will miss the next game due to a groin injury.
-Keep Auld in, please.

Up Next:
Monday night the Kings come to town. They've put on a surprising start, but no one really thinks they can last the whole season. Decent goaltending from Quick and some young talent could make for an upstet. However, not tonight. Make it four losses in a row for LA. Kings 1 Stars 3

Thomas and Savard and Bears, Oh My!

Dallas started this game extremely sloppy, seemingly incapable of clearing their own zone. I wrote that in the first period, expecting to change it, but wouldn’t you know it held true. Made this post a little easier. Offense couldn’t connect and the defense looked poor. Amazing how different a team can look from game to game.

First Period (1-0)
Knew it was too good to be true. Marc Savard threw one on net (totally called him having a good game), it went in, and the gears on Boston’s struggling power play started to go in motion.
Second Period (3-0)
More faceoff trouble and Patrice Bergeron shot it in through traffic for the second Boston goal. Star’s get caught on a long shift, turn it over, and Savard netted his second of the night.
Third Period (3-0)
No scoring.


-Nicklas Grossman took a puck to the nose and left the game.
-As of typing this, we are back down to 29 in the league on the penalty kill at 61.9 percent.
-Fell to 13 on power play, which makes sense since we were shut out.
-If I remember correctly...I mentioned two players when previewing this game. One got the shut out, the other two goals. Bow to greatness of Matthew Mahn.


Up Next:
I won’t predict this game since it’s currently on while I’m finishing this up, but when I heard last night we were playing Chicago, I felt a loss. They have quite a bit of young talent. Would be nice to see it match up against ours, but it won’t be on television. More on that next time.

When It Rains, It Pours

I’m not a huge Marty Turco fan, but it’s hard not to like him on a night like this. Dallas wins 6-0 over the Predators. So what did Marty do differently tonight? He looked calm. He didn’t try and do too much. He got lucky when Nashville hit the cross bar. Add those three things up and you get Turco’s first win of this year’s campaign.

First Period (0-4)

Simple pass from Mike Ribiero and Brendan Morrow buried it up high. It either caught the crowd by surprise or the broadcast was slow, because the crowd seemed to take a while to get going after it went in. 39 seconds later, Brad Richards tapped one in after Loui Erickson pulled Dan Ellis out of position. Erickson put us up by three after James Neal simply put it on net. Pekka Rinne replaces Ellis, but the results were the same. Morrow tapped in his second of the frame, making it look easy, off a pass from Richards in tight on the power play.

Second Period(0-5)

Morrow missed his hat trick when his goal was called off by a Nashville penalty. Erickson’s counted though, large bounce off the boards right to him in front that he leaned down to pick off the ice and put up high.

Third Period (0-6)

Toby Peterson had an amazing tip on a Karlis Skrastins shot to ice the 6-0 victory. What made it even better was the fact that it was scored when FSN was showing the behind the goal view. Seldom see that.

-Dallas is now a first period team, having double digit shots in all but this game’s first period this season. Large departure from how the team used to play.

-Perfect on the penalty kill tonight (a first) bringing us up to 27 in the league at an even 65 percent.

-On the other end of the special teams play, we’re 10 in the league at 26.1 percent on the power play.

-Brad Richards is looking like a Conn Smythe winner.

-Nicklas Grossman leads the league with a +10 rating.

-Nashville’s coach looks weird. Almost like a turtle without a shell. (Although we can’t be too sure what’s under the suit)

-Mike Modano sure looked comfortable up in the suite.

-Wayyyyy too many empty seats at the AAC. Come on guys.

-ESPN is hyping this kid up as a future star. You make the decision.

Up Next:

Friday night the Boston Bruins come to town. They are middle of the pack, but I like Marc Savard, and Tim Thomas is pretty darn good. Not trying to be negative off the big win, but it’s time for our first game without gaining a point in the standings. Boston 4 Dallas 2.

That's Canucked Up

Game four of the regular season and I'm already slacking. In my defense, I've had some crazy stuff happen at work so that's owned my life as of late. I "promise" this will be the only time. Maybe I'm just subconsciously tired of writing about the Stars loosing in the shootout? Maybe we should get Jokinen back? Maybe we should just win it in regulation? I like the sound of that.


Stars give up two more power play goals, making them officially the worst penalty killing team in the NHL. (Yes, even worse than Toronto) They kill off 56.2% of the penalties they take. Four words boys: Stay outta the box.

-Jamie Benn lit the lamp for his first tally. Huge goal with 1:33 left in the third to send it into overtime.
-Steve Ott left the game with I believe was a stomach muscle problem. Should be out a week.
-Modano is close to returning.
-With Turco in net: 3 OTL With Auld in net: 1 win

Up Next: Nashville comes to town tonight. I'm calling for a REGULATION win in front of the home crowd. Coming back to Dallas should revitalize the team and hopefully they play with some swagger, like they really do own the place. Predators 3 Stars 4

Doused Flames

When picking games, I usually get the team right but never the score. Never would have thought I’d get the score but not the winner. Now Calgary played the night before and then against the Stars used their backup goaltender Curtis McEhinney instead of Miikka Kiprusoff. With that being said, Dallas outplayed Calgary and earned this victory no doubt, handing the Flames their first loss of the season. I have a feeling Crawford read my last post, since Alex Auld was in net. Turco so far has been good enough to get us half a win each night, but Auld brought it all home. He was brilliant in this match, stoning Calgary in tight and stopping 21 of 23 shots. They showed an interesting stat about Dallas’ backup goaltenders, since 2000, playing so little. Only twice have they eclipsed over 30 games. The NFL is making the move to most teams using a running back tandem, and I say Dallas does the same. Crawford will play the hot hand in net, so I expect Auld again on Sunday.

First Period (1-0)

Mike Ribeiro got a nice rebound for his first of the year.

Second Period (3-1)

Sutherby got a short pass from Peterson while Calgary was reeling in their zone for his first of the year. Right off a face off Dion Phaneuf ripped one off the post to pull within one, thus ending the Stars’ extreme dominance of Calgary’s power play in the Saddledome. Tom Wandell re-established the two goal lead on an innocent shot that popped up over the goaltender and in. Hockey karma is paying us back for the Edmonton game.

Third Period (5-2)

Brunnstrom scored but it was called off because Ott was driving to the net and supposedly interfered. One of Auld’s few mistakes resulted in Calgary’s second goal by Rene Bourque off a bad rebound. Brad Richards made a beautiful pass in front of the net which seemed to bounce off both Jay Bouwmeester and Loui Eriksson to give Loui his first of the year. Richards finished the game off with an empty netter.

-Both Calgary goals were on the power play (We continue to poorly kill them this season)

-Steve Ott was in the sin bin both times Calgary scored on the man advantage.

-Dallas had two noticeable post hits.

-James Neal is playing very Ovechkin like, going after every puck with hunger for a goal.

-Robidas was called for diving after being checked from behind. Just have to remember, referees are human.

-Razor Quote: “Double pits to chesty is what McElhinney did on that one.” (Referring to the no goal on Fabian)

-The Stars played paintball on one of their days off. Canadians vs everyone else.

Up Next: We finish the tour in Vancouver Sunday night at 9 p.m. central. Luongo hasn’t looked good this season and I think we’ll build off this win. I’ll take the Stars over the Canucks 4-2

Take Two

New day, same problem. Another shootout loss, this time 5-4. ESPN’s John Buccigross ranks the Stars 11th in the Western Conference, citing they “…are in that precarious tweener stage.” (Full article here) I still haven’t raised the red flag yet. If the regular season didn’t have shootouts and just kept the overtime going, I firmly believe they would have picked up the second point. (Too bad that isn’t the case) At least we’re loosing correctly, after all two extra session losses are as good as one win. The offense is looking pretty decent. James Neal has had some crazy puck pursuit and everyone will agree it’s great to have Morrow back. But here’s a little disclaimer Dallas: Expect the season to resemble this game. Our defense couldn’t hold the lead and Turco was inconsistent. He had moments of brilliance, moments of head shaking, and moments of bad luck. I’m not ready to pull him out of the pipes, but I do want to see Auld give it a go. And the way the season is starting, expect that sooner than later.

First Period:
There were two goals in this period...and you can thank the Minnesota Twins for me not recapping them. Great extra inning game against the Tigers, resulting in them flying to New York. Best of luck. I will say this about the first frame; Krys Barch…stop fighting. I was embarrassed to be honest, seeing you get taken down, flipped around, and I don’t think really even landing a punch. Sheldon Souray now has a receipt, because he owns you.
Second Period:
James Neal…wow. Sweet puck pursuit resulting in a shorthanded goal. I think last season we had maybe two shorties and we’re on pace for 41 this year. Lets see how close we get. Stephane Robidas netted a power play goal, and Turco was undressed by Dustin Penner in tight when he went top shelf.
Third Period:
Morrow scored our second power play goal of the night but that was neutralized when Grossman was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Denis Grebeshkov’s shot deflected off him and rainbowed over Marty to tie it.
Overtime:
Back and forth, nothing real exciting.
Shootout:
One aspect of Marty’s game that I absolutely love is his poke check. I haven’t seen many goalies really incorporate it like he does in the shootout. He gave up an easy one to Ales Hemsky, who everyone thought would pull some fancy move when all he needed was a wrister. With the game on the line, the Stars leading scorer James Neal hit the post for the second straight shootout and game, thus giving the Oilers the coveted second point.

-Dallas scored two power play goals tonight. Good trend.
-Dallas gave up two power play goals tonight. Bad trend.
-Razor quote: “A bit of offshore drilling” (Talking about how the Oilers normally look within for open positions but now are looking outward)
-Razor quote: “He likes to annoy-itate” (Steve Otts playing style)
-Benn continues to look good
-I meant to mention this in the first game, but I really like the in game stats they show. Not only relating to the game but some were for the league.
-Still looking for my Stars girl of the year

Up next: Continuing the Canadian tour, next in Calgary Friday night at 8 p.m. central. I’m not a huge fan of the Flames and their rink, plus with Iginla, Jokinen, and Bouwmeester they look to be one of the elite in the Western conference. Here comes the first real loss. Stars 2 Flames 5

Somebody Fix That Door!

Stars lose 3-2 in a shootout. For the first 39 minutes of the game it was the Dan Ellis show, however Dallas fought back to send it to overtime. But the real story is the penalty box door coming open not once but twice after being hit. (I say that lightly) I’ve heard of fast boards but never a trap door. But I digress.

First Period
Stars had tons of chances, but couldn’t connect on any. Only goal in this frame was a gritty hack and slash by Jason Arnott.
Second Period
Stars held off the board aga…oh wait they scored with ten seconds left in the period by a falling James Neal. Steve Sullivan scored when Turco rolled a little too early.
Third Period
Ellis coughed up the puck, giving James Neal his second tally of the night on what is described by some bloggers as a “gift goal”. I’ll take it.
Overtime
No scoring but both teams had great chances on their power plays.
Shootout
I wasn’t very impressed with any goals, except maybe Ribeiro’s elevated backhand because I can’t get my own backhand off the ground. I do wonder about Richard’s shot though. At the beginning of the game, they were talking about how Ellis has bi-coloured pads, with the inside being white, possibly giving an illusion that his legs are apart when they aren’t. Could this explain the miss?

 Razor quote: “It’s poppin!” (In reference to his suit/tie combo)
 Razor quote: “It’s Santa big!” (In reference to Ribeiro’s “bag of moves”)
 If you can’t beat em, hurt em? Robidas nailed a guy into the boards, after which he left and didn’t return.
 Good seeing Arnott again, just not on the score sheet. I always liked him in Dallas.
 Richards was playing the blue line on most of the power plays. I’d rather see him inside but I’ll give it time.
 Jamie Benn was three months old when Modano broke into the league. His name came up in just about every other breath of Ralph and Razor. Expect good things from him.
 I am trying to figure out who my favorite Stars girl is…until I figure it out I will study up as much as I can. Needless to say, I’m in no rush.

Up Next: Dallas is touring Canada on the first road trip of the year. First up is the Oilers. We usually have their number, so I’m calling for a win 4-2

It Has To Start Somewhere

Out with the old, in with the new. My neighbors are moving, so every trash day I see different pieces of furniture and outdated appliances sitting curbside. The Stars got rid of the old (Morrison, Parrish, Zubov, Tippett) and brought in some new (Skrastins, Auld, Crawford). But could this amount of change be too much?

The most notable change is the man standing behind the bench. Gone is the stern face of Dave Tippett, replaced with that of Marc Crawford. Not only does he have twice as much experience as Tippett (fourteen years to only seven) but he ultimately brings a whole new style of hockey to Dallas. The previous two tenures over the Stars have been about one thing and one thing only: Defense. That won us the Stanley Cup a decade ago, but the game is changing. Hockey transitioned to an offensive game with the removal of the two line pass. Dallas stuck to defense first, but it’s time for change. People in Texas like flash. They want touchdowns. They want dunks. They want goals. That’s why Nieuwendyk brought him in. This team has the offensive potential; Ribeiro the magician, Morrow the warrior, Brunnstrom/Neal the next big things, Brad “Conn Smythe” Richards, and Modano the “Real American Hero”. Die hard fans could probably give a nickname or attribute to just about everyone else on the roster, which only adds to the talent this team has. Putting on a better show by finding the back of the net could even boost attendance which started lagging last season. More fans equals more money, and with the Stars falling roughly ten million dollars under the salary cap, that could really come in handy at the trade deadline. (Assuming we have money)

The Dallas Stars have guys who can light up the lamp. So what? Who cares if you score three goals a night if you give up four? I understand trying to push more for offense, but the defense has to remain solid. With defenseman averaging 26 years old, the time to step up is now. We have the veteran prescence of Karlis Skrastins to replace the departed Sergei Zubov and just inked Stephane Robidas to a four year extension. That’s two solid defenders, but how far can two guys get you? Matt Niskanen, Mark Fistric, and Niklas Grossman have spent the past few years developing and learning with the help of Zubov and Philippe Boucher. Not only does their play in front of Marty Turco have to solidify, but so does their prescence on the power play. When Boucher left for Pittsburgh, the Stars power play took a huge hit. Gone was his big shot from the blue line and Dallas fell to 27 in the league (15.4 percent). Modano filled in, but every team needs their own Zdeno Chara. Niskanen showed he had potential, making him a worthy candidate, but only time will tell.

Marty Marty Marty. The man between the pipes. Last year was statistically the worst season of his career (2.81 GAA, .898 SV%). However, he also started the most games in his career. Think there’s a correlation? Dallas has always had good backup goalies, (Dan Ellis, Manny Fernandez) but last year seemed to be different. When Turco didn’t start, the position flat out didn’t look good. I feel he took it upon himself to be the savior of the team, which he is capable of doing, but just fell short of last season. One man can’t do it all. The off season acquisition of Alex Auld should take some of the pressure off Turco and allow him to take more days off to ensure he’s at the top of his game. This really could bring a world of difference to the net minder, especially late in the season during a hopeful playoff race.

I’m willing to blame last years’ 36-35-11 record on injuries (which didn’t stop the Blues) but this year there are no excuses. This team has learned about adversity, knows how to deal with it, and must now take the next step. The Dallas Stars begin the 2009-2010 campaign Saturday, October 3, at 7 p.m., against the Nashville Predators.