Tuesday, December 21, 2010

First Place

Who would have thought that when waking up with three days till Christmas, the Dallas Stars would be in first place in the Western Conference? I know I wouldn't. I expected them to be better than last year's group; perhaps sneak in the lower end of the playoff window. Instead of backing in, the Stars are aiming to blow open the door and take this league by the throat. I feel this team can be defined by one word: Grit. It seems the majority of their games involve some form of comeback...which made tonight's game a joy to watch (and based on the crowd size, a joy to be at as well). The current three game win streak includes victories over a decent Columbus team and great Detroit and Montreal clubs. How are they doing it? With grit. Starting goaltender Kari Lehtonen misses time? No problem, our back up Andrew Raycroft can easily fill the void. Brad Richards continues to produce (currently tied for sixth in the league with 38 points). Loui Eriksson quietly has four game winning goals, and leads the club with a plus-12 rating (James Neal is only one behind). This team wont go quietly to the curb, and that grit has earned them (at least for now) the number one position in the Western Conference. They control their own destiny at this point. Keep it up.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Don't Look Now...

...but the Dallas Stars are currently second in the Western Conference; a mere three points behind the Detroit Red Wings for the top seed. Sure, the season is slightly over a quarter of the way over, but considering the changes made from the prior season and the financial issues, no one could have predicted the squad being this competitive. The only drawback of this position is that the difference in points between the third place team and the team sitting at twelve is two points (the equivalent of one game). This tight grouping means positions will flex on a seemingly nightly basis; but regardless, the team is playing well. Tonight their six game win streak came to an end in a shoot-out against the Columbus Blue Jackets, but all good things must end. Expect this team to be in many close knit games since they are tenth in the league with 2.9 goals per game while sporting the ninth best goals against average of 2.6 goals per game. The MVP of this team to this point has to be Kari Lehtonen. Injuries have plagued his career to this point, but this year he's healthy and playing like an elite goaltender. Statistically he wont be winning any awards, but he's fourth in the league with thirteen wins. If there's anything the Dallas Cowboys have taught this town, it's that all that matters are W's, no matter how you get them. Brad Richards leads the team in points (30) goals (11) and assists (19) and eight players have double digit points. The season seems to have potential, but there are two big factors that will affect the outcome. 1) Will the team be sold? Not too much has come up lately about the possibility of a buyer (I still say Mark Cuban...AAC=Cuban Palace). Texas Rangers fans know what impact new ownership can have on a team; let's hope it happens sooner than later. 2) Will Richards be traded? The New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and even the LA Kings have been rumored to show interest. Trading in division doesn't seem likely, but the Philadelphia Eagles proved nothing is impossible. The Rangers seem to have the most interest, and might be willing to give up the most players in return. With Richards becoming a free agent at the end of the year and the ownership issue still at hand, it appears unlikely the Stars will be able to retain him after the year's end. Only time will tell.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Two Games In

The Dallas Stars could not have begun this season any better then they have. The story isn't just that they're 2-0; it's how they've won the two games. Last season the team finished seven points shy of the eighth spot in the playoffs. They missed out on fourteen points from overtime/shoot-out losses. Long story short, if they had converted half of those losses into wins, they could have made the playoffs. Game one against the New Jersey Devils, Dallas showed resilience, clawing back from a 2-0 and 3-2 deficit, capped off with an overtime goal by Loui Eriksson. The next night found the team playing the Islanders. This game had a much different feel to it, since tonight the Stars were in the driver seat and New York was the club that came back. A late power-play goal sent it into overtime, and after five scoreless minutes a shootout commenced. Mike Ribeiro was the only shooter to score, giving the Dallas Stars a temporary spot atop the Pacific Division. Neither of these games were won in part to defense; in fact the team is currently 20th in goals against average (3.5) and 28th in penalty kill (55.6%). Offensively though the team is finding a spark. Brenden Morrow has three goals, followed by Eriksson with two while Brad Richards and Ribeiro have three assists. Kari Lehtonen has looked solid in net; he may have given up seven goals, but he's faced 77 shots and his defense isn't helping him out. Regardless of stats, the team is winning and that's all that matters.

The next game is this Thursday against the Detroit Redwings. The Stars want to win this game not only because it's the home opener and against the former face of the franchise Mike Modano, but by winning this game they will have done something they failed to do last season: win three or more games in a row.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Turning The Page

Howdy-ho Puck Heads! The preseason is drawing to an end, so let’s recap what’s happened since the last post.

Last time we chatted, the big three of Modano-Turco-Lehtinen were still on ice. So what’s the status now?

Mike Modano is now a Red Wing. Give that a moment to sink in. I think I'm at peace with this...simply because this wasn't him turning his back on the Stars. Dallas didn't want him anymore, and he wasn't ready to retire. I wish him the best, except when playing our team.

Marty Turco? He signed with the Blackhawks. I can see him fitting in here easily, but don't get the impression he's moving from a low level to a high level team...sure, Chicago will be good again this season but don't expect the same magic they bottled last season. Due to salary cap restrictions they've had to move a ton of players (hence how the Stars acquired Adam Burish).

And what's Jere Lehtinen up to? Well...I'm not really sure. I kept waiting to hear if he was retiring, signing elsewhere, or coming back...but I just haven't heard anything. I checked out his Wikipedia page and it says he's a free agent, so I guess he chose to just not do anything. NHL.com doesn't have anything listed by his name either, so for all intensive purposes, we'll just say he's in limbo.

Jonathan Cheechoo was invited to camp on a tryout basis, but didn't make the team. When I first heard about this I was stoked; I hated him as a Shark since he was so talented, but the past few years he's tapered off. I'm sure he's a great guy, but even I could look decent on a line with Morrow and Ribeiro or Richards and Neal.

The team is still owned by Tom Hicks, meaning we're constrained not only by the salary cap but also this ownership dilemma. The Texas Rangers were finally able to escape the Hicks effect, which fans saw an immediate change, such as cheaper food and beverage items and also more promotions. I miss the days of dollar bobble heads and two dollar t-shirt nights at the AAC. Guess we just have to be patient.

Enough of the off-ice issues...lets zero in on the team we have at hand.

I'm not a big fan of pre-season anything...however I did cave and go to an Avalanche-Stars game. I wont fully recap the game, so to summarize it: Sluggish play on both sides of the puck, way too many penalties taken, solid goal tending from Kari Lehtonen, and a nice comeback late sparked by an assist and goal from the captain Brenden Morrow. I feel this game can and will be a slight preview of things to come from this season. Gone are the days of solid defensive play that Dave Tippett instilled in the team and in comes the second year under Mark Crawfords offense first scheme. Despite the Stars giving up plenty of scoring chances, Kari Lehtonen has looked solid. Andrew Raycroft won the backup position, so the fate of the team will reside on their pads. My two players to watch this season are Brenden Morrow and Loui Eriksson. Morrow has had a solid preseason, picking up three goals and an assist. My case for Eriksson is based on something I noticed during pregame skate at the game I attended. He skated by himself with a puck, shooting it off seemingly every board in the zone to see how it bounced. I have a feeling he's going to have a monster year if he puts in that type of effort to something as minor as that.

Another interesting tidbit...the other day I saw ESPN had awarded their annual "Mr. Underrated" for the year. I clicked to see if I knew who he was...and sure enough I did. Stephane Robidas! Good to see some of our hard working guys are getting national notice. That being said, just about every analyst I've heard doesn't think the Stars will do much contending this season. I'm fine with that analysis...because this team will benefit from going under the radar. There won't be much pressure on them, and in some aspects they're better this season than last, even with losing a starting goaltender and two veteran forwards. Crawford's system will improve now that it's been used for over a full season, and this team in general has a new work ethic instilled. I'll admit they lack much of an identity, but I feel like this core of players should be able to figure it out sooner than later. It will be interesting to see how Ribeiro plays this season. His off season was plagued rumors of being traded prior to the draft, but the team is committed to him, made evident when he was captain in a preseason game that Morrow missed. Don't forget we still have Brad Richards.

All in all this should be a season to watch, and wouldn't you know, you don't have to wait too long to do so. Game one is this Friday against the New Jersey Devils.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Off-Season Notes

Howdy-ho hockey fans. I don't know about you, but all this World Cup soccer has gotten me in the mood for hockey. Despite financial issues, the Stars have made a few moves to improve the team. The only headline gaining much attention is the fact that Mike Modano will not be offered a contract by Dallas, meaning if he decides to keep playing, it will be with another team. Initially the Detroit Red Wings were the only team interested, but as of late the Sharks and Wild have joined the mix. (Keep in mind the Stars finish this next season yet again in Minnesota.) So that's the big news. Now for the lesser know acquisitions. To back up Kari Lehtonen, we now have Andrew Raycroft. Sound familiar? Probably not. He spent last year backing up Roberto Luongo, and before that bouncing around from Colorado and Toronto after breaking into the league with Boston. With a career goals against average of 2.87, .900 save percentage, and record of 103-101, he wont pose much of a threat to win the starting job but he at least provides a mediocre talent with some room for improvement. The next signing of note is Adam Burish. The Stars benefited from the Blackhawks garage sale of their Stanley Cup winning team by adding this gritty right wing. He wont win any scoring titles but his presence will be known. You almost get the feeling Dallas is putting together a scrappy team. Otherwise there have been plenty of assignments to the AHL affiliates and signings to minor deals, most of which will not see much fruition but if there's any advances you'll hear about it. No off-season is complete (except baseball) without the draft. Dallas used their first round pick (11th overall) on goaltender Jack Campbell. Initially I wasn't too thrilled with the pick considering many highly praised defenders were still in the pool, but this is what the Stars do. They find talent at the goalie position, groom them, and use them to either play or as trade bait. They finished the draft getting three defenders and a wing.

For those counting down, the regular season begins Friday, October 8th. This is Big D On Ice signing off until something happens.
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Monday, April 12, 2010

Well...It's Over

The Dallas Stars finished the season going 2-1 over the last three games. The only point of note from the 2-5 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks was that Climie started in net. Seems like the Stars were trying him out to see if he'd be a good backup for Lehtonen next season (since its all but official that Turco won't be resigned). Now onto the emotion. Mike Modano played in what was most likely his last home game. Despite the Ducks being shorthanded personel wise, the Stars struggled to dominate, but in a way it was almost necessary to complete the story-book ending to the greatest American born players career. After an astounding ovation for Modano that I was proud to be a part of, Bobby Ryan put the Ducks up by one. Cue the Rocky theme song. Modano tipped in a shot to tie it and nearly had a game winning break-away in over-time. The shoot-out followed, which Turco stopped every shot faced and Modano and Lehtinen both scored to win it. Tears flowed from both Modano and fans alike after the game during the ceremony of players giving the jerseys off their backs to the fans. The team then went to Minnesota, winning 4-3 in another shoot-out. Modano was held off the scoreboard yet ended up as the games first star, skating out in a North Stars jersey. If Modano had any thoughts of coming back, I'd say the media and fans have forced him to retire. Now that the season is over the talk goes to "What should the team do in the off season?" Well, it all depends. If the Stars get sold there is hope for solid improvement. If they remain with Tom Hicks, then I wouldn't expect much. Keep in mind they ended the year with five more points than they did last season. Under the current management I could see them maybe getting 90 points next season, but let's not jump ahead of ourselves...after all, the playoffs haven't even started yet. Here's to next season.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Three Games Left

The Stars continue their mediocrity by losing 1-3 to the Ducks, followed by two wins against San Jose (5-1) and Edmonton (6-3), and then another loss to the Blues (1-2). Kari Lehtonen continues to figure things out, giving up eight goals in his three starts in this span. Officially eliminated from playoff contention, the team will only be playing one "meaningful" game as far as standings go on Tuesday against Chicago (they're two points behind San Jose for the best record in the Western Conference). Otherwise, we finish up the season series with the Ducks and the final game is against Minnesota, which most speculate to be Mike Modano's final game. In all honesty it would be a storybook ending since we all know he was drafted by the Minnesota North Stars so he'd be ending a great career in the same place he started. Either way it's a nice little rivalry so everyone should tune in for it. In other Stars news, Steve Ott had his first career hat trick in the San Jose game, Jamie Benn had a three point night against Edmonton, and the team had power-play goals in three of the four games. The season is almost over, so get your Dallas hockey fix while you can.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Special Stars

Dallas takes down Los Angeles 4-1 Saturday to prevent getting swept for the season series. Things didn't look good after the first period considering the Stars were down by one and were playing extremely undisciplined (three penalties, including Jamie Benn punching Dustin Brown in the face). Captain Brenden Morrow leveled the playing field 17 seconds into the second period, then Brad Richards put it away with a pair of his own and Steve Ott finished the scoring with a tally in the third. Interestingly enough, all five goals scored in this game were on the power-play. Even more interesting was that the Stars scored on a 5-4, 5-3, and 4-3 power-plays. The referees dominated the game, calling 15 separate penalties. Lost in the special teams excitement would be the stellar play of Kari Lehtonen. Stopping 29 of 30 shots, he is giving fans hope for next season. Brad Richards is seven points away from topping his career high in points, which is quite do-able at the pace he's on. Mike Modano has begun skating again, and Krys Barch is out for the rest of the season due to a cut leg. And this just in: Mike Ribeiro will be held out of tonight's game due to missing a team meeting. Sounds like Crawford knows how to put the foot down.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Shark Bitten

The San Jose Sharks got revenge for the 8-2 beating Dallas threw down in their last meeting, as the Stars were shut out 3-0. The first period was stellar; no scoring, great scoring chances, up beat, and just about anything you could ask for. Then it hit the fan, with Dallas taking unnecessary penalties (eight total excluding the fight and game misconduct). The Sharks scored two power-play goals and never looked back, adding a third in the third. Turco initially stopped the third goal, but Ribiero looked lost when coming back to cover and Logan Couture received an easy rebound. The main highlight Dallas wise would have to be the end of the Krys Barch fight. (He later left the game after getting his leg cut by a skate) Otherwise Marty Turco played decent (the guys in front of him didn't help much) and towards the end there was an odd altercation between Steve Ott and Patrick Marleau resulting in Ott getting the boot. Overall a poor performance with not much else to say.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Signs Of Life

Nine games left. Nine points out of eighth place in the West. Until next time, goodbye.

Nah just kidding. The Dallas Stars have shown some signs of life despite just playing for respect. Since the loss to the Flyers, Dallas has gone 2-0-1. Trivia time. What do those two wins have in common? Kari Lehtonen was between the pipes. Granted, the Ottawa game wasn't the prettiest (5-4 final, Jason Spezza hat trick/four point night) but who cares, a win is a win. The best part about this in my humble opinion is that Lehtonen still isn't fully in hockey shape; meaning he will be even better next season. Why discuss next season when this one is still technically going on? The way I see it, this is a slight preview of what we have in store for next season. Let's face it, Marty Turco will not be returning next year. I will be flat out surprised if Mike Modano returns for another season, so this period of play without him is testing out who could step up into his leadership position (Brad Richards seems worthy; I would love to see him stay here long term). Offensively, I'd say this team is pretty well set. All we need is improved defense. I do think Crawford will be retained as head coach, but if by mid-season the club is underachieving, he will get axed. Or even sooner to be honest, the way hockey coaches get cut these days.

As I mentioned before, nine games left, four of which are at home. If you haven't taken the time to go see a game, be sure to do so; I have a feeling the crowd wont be too full.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Eight Games Later

Alright so there have been eight games since the last update. Of the eight, the Stars have won two of those games, oddly enough both against some of the better teams in the NHL yet we continue to lose just about everything else. Somehow we pulled off a shoot-out win over the Washington Capitals and later trounced the Sharks by six points, yet continue to struggle with finding consistent net-minding, with the team giving up 26 goals in the six games Marty Turco has started since the Olympic break. It seems like Kari Lehtonen is getting his first consistent action in over a year; he gave up six goals to the Penguins in his first game, but in the two games he's started since then he held the Sharks to only two and the Flyers to three. Not too bad for a guy coming off an injury. He didn't look too bad against Philadelphia, but he was on record as saying he felt tired as a result of the Sharks game. He will regain his stamina in the off season and prove to be a new weapon next year. Offensively, Segal and Ribiero are looking good (even Ott looked good tonight). As for the word on the street, I've heard many fans still not satisfied with Coach Crawford. I admit I'm pretty critical of him myself, but at the same time this guy has 500 wins. He does know what he's doing, contrary to how this season has gone. If after next season we aren't seeing results, the angst fans feel will be justified. On another note from the people I've heard (just to explain my "source" for these comments, it's what I read on the Stars facebook group) but there are quite a few people unhappy with the play of Matt Niskanen. I love the guy (UMD baby) but he doesn't seem to be very defensively sound, which is what this team needs. Sure it's nice to get some points out of him, but he makes way too many errors in front of our net. Look for the Stars to find a good blue-liner in the off season (which will happen if the team gets sold, but if Hicks-zilla sticks around I wouldn't expect much).

Time for a feel good story. Apparently, some teams were interested in trading for Mike Modano prior to the deadline, but he didn't waive the no-trade clause in his contract since he wishes to remain a Star. Being a Green Bay fan, it's refreshing to hear about a player that's loyal to his franchise. To be honest though, I would like to know which teams were interested and what type of value we could have received. I pray for a speedy recovery from your appendectomy Mr. Modano.

As of submission, the Stars sit seven points out of the final playoff spot. That wouldn't be too horrible except for the fact that there three teams ahead of us (Minnesota, St. Louis, Calgary). With 12 games left it isn't impossible, but it is highly unlikely. I'm ready to announce that the Stars will not be playing after April 10; that being said, they will continue to play hard and act as a spoiler to the other teams.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

They're Baaaaack!

And flatter than ever. The LA Kings dropped Your Dallas Stars 5-1 on Tuesday, continuing the slide against our divisional rival. Dallas is now 0-2-2 against the Kings this season. The only positive to take from this game on the Stars' side is that Mike Ribeiro has been hot as ever since returning from his throat injury. Otherwise, I had two questions in my head on the Dart ride home.

1) What exactly did the team do during the break? It clearly wasn't practice. It's one thing to match up against a tough goalie, but everything about the team was off. Bad passing, poor defense, leaky goal-tending, sluggish skating. Name any negative and they most likely did it.

2) At any point in this game, did Joe Nieuwendyk second guess keeping Marty Turco? If Kari Lehtonen had a better mask (right now he's reppin' the basic white) I would have loved to see him between the pipes. I can all but bet good money that he will start Thursday against the Blues.Now as I mention the Stars played poorly, but I wont take anything away from the Kings. They have a legitimate team this season. All those high draft picks are finally producing, along with the stellar play of Olympian Jonathan Quick. Although he didn't see any playing time behind Ryan Miller, he still proved doubters wrong by making team USA. He has essentially the same goals against average as he had last season, as of this point he's played 12 more games, and has 15 more wins. You can tell the improved offense is helping him out quite a bit; Alexandar Frolov and Anze Kopitar are great and Ryan Smyth brings the experience to hold it down. I'll go ahead and eat my words that this team would tapper off.

Another thing I'll do is reiterate my love for the College Rush tickets. Free Chipotle and a seat five rows from the ice; can you ask for anything more? Oh and some famous skateboard guy was there; he was skating outside but I chose to get free Red Bull from a very pretty lady instead of watching.

Oh, and this made me laugh in the shop at the AAC.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Olympic Break

While I'm sitting here watching USA play Norway in Olympic play, I figured I'll finally recap the Stars' last game before the break. Dallas shut out Phoenix 3-0, and not to play the part of the broken record, but wow Marty Turco dazzled again. As John pointed out, he's really up-ing his trade value, so we can only wait and see what will happen after the break and the rosters un-freeze. Trading for a new goalie could be the best idea we've ever had, although now it's hard to imagine getting rid of a guy playing at this level. As for the actual game, I don't have much to say since I didn't catch most of it (Got the start time wrong so I didn't think I needed to record it...my bad) I do know James Neal knocked a guy out of the game from a hit into the boards. Krys Barch is getting better at fighting; he had two in the game, the second of which I saw. The guy he fought seems like a real goon due to the showboating he does after his fights, but Barch silenced him. In case you missed it. Round 1 Round 2 Dallas is now tied with Detroit for 9th place in the Western Conference with 68 points (one shy of 8th) Considering how bad this team has looked at times and the injuries they've had, you can't ask for much more. Then again maybe you could ask for one or two of those OT/Shout-out loses to be changed to wins, and then we'd be in as of now. We control our destiny, let's see where we go. There are plenty of home games left, so make sure you get out to a few more games before the season's over. For the majority of March we play, have a day off, then play again. I've got a good feeling they could make things interesting. Until next time, go Stars and go USA!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

A Win On The Road?

Dallas takes down Calgary 3-1 as Marty Turco continues to shine, playing as if he's the only goalie in Big D (when really he's one out of three) Turco stopped every shot the Flames had (their one point came from a Brenden Morrow own goal). Otherwise, despite not really showing up till the third period, the Stars dominated this game. Mike Ribeiro proved again that he's one of the craftiest players in the league, scoring yet another "Did you see that?" goal. Jamie Benn gave us some insurance, and then it got interesting. Calgary was set to close out the game with a two man advantage (Dallas penalty and pulled goalie) but the Stars were falling to block shots and Turco kept making saves. Jarome Iginla took a shot from the corner which got behind Turco, causing the Flames to celebrate and act like they tied it up, but after review the puck never crossed the line. Ribeiro hit the nail in the coffin by scoring off a face-off into the empty net with ten seconds left. I love how easily games can turn around; during the first half of the contest I was sitting there bored out of my mind and frustrated with the team's lackluster performance, but then after Ribs first goal, the whole team changed. That's probably why I don't write these during the course of the game, because had I, I would have had to backspace quite a bit. Last game before the Olympic break is tonight against the Phoenix Coyotes (seems like every other game is against these guys). I encourage everyone to watch some Olympic hockey and cheer on Team USA. Canada and Russia have great rosters, but I really think USA could surprise some folks, eh? I'm still not a fan of taking the All-Stars and putting them together, but the days of taking the non-NHLers and keeping them together for the team are long gone.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Quite A Bit For One Night

Where to begin. I'll start off with the score: Dallas 3 Chicago 4 after a 5 round shoot-out. Marty Turco got the start yet again in net, and you can't blame this loss on him. If a goalie can stop the first three attempts (in this case the first four) you should be able to get at least one to back him up/win it. This wasn't the case, as the closest we came was James Neal hitting the post yet again. I caught most of this game, only missing a bit for Lost, but no where in it did it feel as if the Stars were really in any sort of control, which speaks volumes for how big this point was to get. The second would be nice, but hey, Rome wasn't built in a day. I'd like to go ahead and welcome Mike Ribeiro back to the line up; he payed dividends right away, scoring the games' first goal. I'm proud of how the Stars never rolled over, which I was quite worried about after they fell behind 3-2, but they kept chugging along and finally tied it late to get one point in the standings. Turco had their backs, coming up huge save after save including a stellar diving stop on a break away. Sadly, it seems like his days in Dallas are numbered, as midway through the game FSN announced the Stars traded their fourth-round draft pick and defensman Ivan Vishnevskiy for Atlanta's Kari Lehtonen. All around this is a good move for the club, as we probably wouldn't use Vishnevskiy much (he's more about offense which would fit well with the new system but in the long run we need some guys to keep the puck out of our net) and like what was mentioned on the broadcast, anything after I believe it was the third round in the draft is pretty uncertain. (I know there are diamonds in the rough, but hitting on them is extremely hit or miss, especially in hockey. Most people think of it like football...choosing players from the colleges in the US, but keep in mind, hockey is global). I can't see them moving Auld due to what we would get in return (meaning not much) so the only choice is getting rid of Turco. I hope we at least get some good value back, because we will be giving up a solid goaltender. Let's hope Lehtonen can stay healthy since he's had some back issues in the past. Dallas next plays Calgary Thursday night

In other player news, we get Ribeiro back but lose Steve Ott and Mark Fistric. Ott had an emergency appendectomy and Fistric is having knee surgery. Ott should return after the break, and Fistric's return is in question.

Howlin' Good Game

Dallas finally takes down Phoenix 4-0 as Marty Turco continues to be a dominant force between the pipes. Jamie Benn scored twice, James Neal opened up the scoring, and Loui-Loui Ericksson netted a shorthanded goal. It was nice to see the Stars cool off the red hot Coyotes (stopped their 6 game winning streak) and get two points closer to the playoffs. The real test now is leaving the AAC and playing the last games before the Olympic Break on the road, starting tonight in Chicago. Can the resurgence of Turco be enough to close out the break on a high note? We'll find out tonight against a great Blackhawks team. I apologize for the shortness of the post, busy week.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Hitch In The Road

Well shut-outs are pretty easy to recap, so this will be just a slight step above. Stars lose 2-1, but if you take out essentially the last minute it was 1-0. Steve Mason brought his A game, most likely trying to impress interim coach Claude Noel. Marty Turco was back in net (Crawford is sticking with his "riding the hot hand" plan) and, despite the loss, had a great game. The one goal he did allow was due to a pretty bad screen, and the other goal was when he was on the bench with the extra attacker. From a Dallas point of view, the empty netter stung since there were two Stars on Umberger, and despite taking him down, he still scored from on the ground. Brad Richards scored at the very end, but it was too little too late. Is it too much to ask for a road win? We're now 1-10-2 in the last 13 games away from the AAC. We get another shot at Tippett's Coyotes on Saturday, should be interesting to see who's in net.

One last thought...who besides me can't stand the fact that the Capitals have won 12 games in a row, yet we can't get more than back to back wins?

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Wild and Crazy

Minnesota's backup goaltender Wade Dubielewicz must be a fan of Lost, because his mind was clearly in 1977 instead of 2010. Dallas wins this contest 4-2 with Marty Turco making a season-high 40 saves in his first start since January 24th. I know I've been hard on Turco this season, going on record as saying Auld should be starting. Don't get me wrong, I love Marty as a person, but (and this goes to any and every athlete) if you're getting paid millions of dollars to play a sport, you better perform pretty darn good. And that is exactly number 35 did in this game. He came up big when his team needed him, and equally important the team helped him out when he needed them. The third and fourth goal for the Stars came within the same minute of the Wild goals. If that isn't responding, I don't know what is. Mike Modano must have found the fountain of youth up in Montreal, since his scoring frenzy continued with another tally. Steve Ott fought Cal Clutterbuck not once, but twice both in the first and second period. (He totally won both rounds) The second altercation was for Clutterbuck's clean but not cool hit on Brad Richards. The Stars are starting to play with some swagger, but that will be put to the test on Thursday on the road against the now Ken Hitchcock-less Columbus Blue Jackets.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Howling Loss

Today's lucky number is 3. And by lucky, I mean unlucky. Stars fail again to grab the big third win in a row, and they missed the mark in their third attempt to topple Dave Tippett's new team. For those keeping score at home, his new soldiers have won 3 times, and we haven't won once. We didn't play horrible...but definitely not worthy of a win. Auld made some big saves that kept the game from getting too out of hand, but our offense hit a dry spell. Based on how up and down the team has been, I really can't picture them finishing higher than 7th in the West. This could easily change considering how cluttered spots 7-14 are (separated by 10 points) I fully expect the Coyotes and Kings to tail off in the second half, so that there could potentially open up two more spots (Dallas would be in) but regardless, being positioned at the bottom of the group isn't in our best interest, considering how poorly we play on the road, which is where most of the games would be played. I guess I'm wrapping this post up since I fell asleep during the middle of it and completely lost my train of thought.

Former Stars:
-Niklas Hagman was traded from Toronto to Calgary.
-Chris Conner landed with the Pittsburgh Penguins and had two goals the other day.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Home Ice Big Advantage

Hip hip, hooray! Stars top the Avalanche 3-2 thanks to Alex Auld and the clearly oiled up Mike Modano (two goals last night, six in the last eight contests). There were some hard hits, but otherwise a fairly clean game penalty wise, with only three called the entire game. The game easily could have had more scoring for the Stars; for instance, Benn swung and missed with a clear shot of the back of the net, but I wont be petty and just appreciate the win. Dallas gets another shot at making it three in a row on Sunday, taking on Tippett's Coyotes for the first time at home. I'd like to think the crowd will give him a warm reception, considering he was forced out and didn't leave on bad terms. If we can win this game, you have to like our chances at making it four straight wins, since our next target is Minnesota on Tuesday. (I only stay that because at home, we dominate the Wild) But let's not count our chickens before they hatch, or however that saying goes. I apologize for the short post, but work is calling.

*I forgot to mention last post, but Tom Wandell will miss the remainder of the season due to knee surgery to repair his torn ACL. I remember when the injury occurred, he hit his knee on the door while skating by the bench. He left that game, but it didn't seem too serious; but it is. This is upsetting, since he was really starting to come on and play physically and make an impression. I pray the team doesn't do anything stupid and forget about him next season. All the best Tom.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Hot At Home

*Dallas lost to Colorado 4-0; you can thank the NFC Championship game for no review on that one. I recorded it and intended to watch it, but while viewing it on a commercial in the football game, I witnessed the third Avalanche goal, which led me to say "Yeah...I'm not watching this." Basically, Colorado iced the puck, the ref is yelling "icing", the puck hits said ref, Colorado get that puck, and scores on what I think was a 3 on 2. This play seemed to summarize how the night went for our team.*

Alright now for the good game. Dallas beats Calgary 4-3 in a shoot-out (1-0). The Stars opened the scoring with Modano rifling a shot past Miikka Kiprusoff, but the Flames netted two on an extended power-play resulting after the Fistric-Nystrom fight. Normally fight balance out, but during the fight, Fistric pulled off Nystrom's helmet, held onto the helmet, and hit Nystrom with his own helmet. Fun for the fans, but the NHL doesn't laugh over things like that. I don't think it was meant to be dirty (it was listed as a "Match Penalty for Attempting to Injure) but regardless, it happened. (My guess is it got stuck on his hand or between his fingers.) Clearly our penalty kill isn't holding up, and a third goal was added in the second, but Auld looked pretty good and Neal pushed the momentum back in our direction with a deflection in the last minute of the second period. Brad Richards completed the comeback with a power-play tally in the third, by hammering a shot off a Calgary player and in. Modano and Richards missed their shots, Auld made three saves, and Eriksson won it. Overall a great game, and Dallas continues their home ice dominance. I was hoping to go to the game tomorrow night, but work calls. Everyone else should go though.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Ups and Downs

First things first. Thursday night's game against Vancouver. Stars lose 4-3 in a game they would have won had just about any other goalie been in the crease aside from Roberto Luongo. The first goal scored by Dallas was a perfect example of Crawford's system; Skrastins came up from the point, joined the attack, and the result was Eriksson evening the game up at one. Peterson picked up a short-handed goal on a simple shot that Luongo would love to have back. Things were going our way, till the Canucks netted their own shorty, and from there they never looked back. I could feel a possible comeback, but loosing Wandell to injury late in the third handcuffed our lines and forced Crawford to play some guys longer than they should have. Daley proved his work ethic by scoring with 3 seconds left in the game. We may have lost, but if we play every road game like this one, our road woes will be over. Dallas again failed to eclipse the illusive three-game winning streak...

Now for Friday's game vs the Edmonton Oilers. While watching the previous night's game, it was stated that the next game would be on FSN Plus, meaning I wouldn't get to see it. Forgetting about this, I set my DVR to record it at 9, although I thought it started at 8. I was going to watch an episode of Lost, then turn it on, when halfway through the episode, I get a text saying Daley scored. Confused, I switched to FSN, only to see Mavericks talk. Angrily remembering the FSN Plus deal, I went back to Lost expecting to miss a possibly good game. One episode turned into two (I'm trying to finish re-watching season 5 before 6 starts Feb 2, and even though I have over a week to do so, I'm down to the final episode already) and I decided, well if the DVR says it came on at 9, why not check it? So I did. And I heard Ralph saying something about a two minute warning left for the Stars to fend off Edmonton. Then my heart sank, as a rebound deflected off Turco's pads, off Modano's skate, and into the net. I kid you not, I angrily stormed out of my room, changed the channel to the game in the living room (no protest either as the old man was asleep) and I said "The Stars can not catch a break." This woke him up, and I expected to watch an overtime period and possible shoot-out with my pop's. But James Neal decided to ruin father-son bonding time by getting in the way of a clearing attempt with 22.2 seconds left and rifling a shot into the back of the net, giving Dallas their first regulation road win since midway through November. As I mentioned before on the game tying goal at the end, the puck hit Turco's pads, not Auld, as in Marty played this game. I still think Crawford is sticking with Auld for the time being, this was just a routine day off since goaltenders seldom play back to back games on consecutive nights unless your last name is Luongo or Brodeur.

Saturday is an off day, then off to face the surprising Colorado Avalanche. Two days off after that, then it's back home for the Flames and Colorado yet again. Guess this is our Northwest portion of our schedule.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Epic

What a game. Despite being played by two middle of the pack teams, this oddly had a playoff feel to it; at least for those in the crowd, despite a good deal of empty seats. (I'd say a little over 3/4 full) Quite a few Minnesota fans, including some brave ones wearing Viking apparel. (I counted one proud purple Favre jerseys and two AD's) There was great energy, large impart to the physical game the Stars and Wild were playing. The only thing that confused me a bit was the changing of the Wild net minder's last name when the puck entered the offensive zone. Initially I figured they were trying to psyche him out, but if that was the case, why isn't it done at every home game, no matter the opponent? Maybe it's just a Minnesota thing. First and foremost I want to reiterate something I said a few times at the game. The Stars outscored the Cowboys. Dallas wins 4-3 in Auld's second game as trial goalie. Former Star Antti Miettinen nets two for the Wild, and Modano scored his 551st goal. (Side note, Modano is 25th on the all-time scoring list. I figured he'd be higher considering he's the highest scoring American born player; really shows how much of a minority we are in this league.) By far the best part of this game was Steve Ott getting into a fight with Josh Harding. I've always wanted to see a goalie fight, and this could be the closest I'll ever see. The Stars begin a 3 game road trip, where they can't seem to pull their act together. Not having Morrow-Ribiero-Lehtinen will hurt, but the rest of the team is becoming pretty scrappy, and so long as Richards stays hot and Auld can keep us in games, you have to like our chances.

-I'm not a big Todd Beruzzi fan, but he's got some moves.
-One of the best goals I've ever seen. ESPN described it as And 1 Hockey Style
-Can't really tell, but there's a girl signing the National Anthem.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Time For Change

Two more games in the book; first a 5-3 loss to the Montreal Canadians then a surprising 3-2 shootout win over the Red Wings. I actually caught most of the Canadians game, which was a frustrating tilt. It started off great, they played with pressure and scored three times on a team with an excellent goalie tandem of Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak. So what was our downfall? Defense and goal tending, but I'm sure you could have guessed that. It's been our problem all season, and Crawford is finally addressing it. Well, the goalie situation at least. The next game against the Red Wings featured Alex Auld in net. He gave up two goals in roughly the first ten minutes but then locked it down after that. The Stars fought back to send it into the shoot-out, and it took six rounds to decide the victor. Steve Ott backhanded it on a sliding Jimmy Howard who slowed the puck, but pushed it out while on the goal-line. Originally ruled no-goal, the video review overturned the call and after making his sixth save, Auld and the Stars walked away with two points. I've taken away two things from this game. 1) Crawford is giving Auld the chance to be the starter now. It should be interesting to see what he does with this opportunity. He's been excellent in some games, and miserable in others. The team can score, so really we just need some decency. Turco has given up too many soft goals which not only hurt on the scoreboard, but can really demoralize a team. If Auld doesn't work out, I like John's idea to call up Climie for a trial. He's putting up good numbers, so why not? Dallas has had proven success in their goal tending system, let's see what we've got. 2) Lehtinen and Morrow both left the game due to upper body injuries. Morrow's isn't sounding too bad, but for some reason I have a bad feeling about Lehtinen. I'd love to be wrong, but loosing Ribiero for over a month is bad enough, we can't afford any other serious injury.

Minnesota comes to town tomorrow; big game on the national platform of VS. I'll be going, so I hope for a good contest. I figure everyone's watching the Cowboys-Vikings game, but boy was that Chicago-Detroit shoot-out good. Chicago won, but Detroit had some fancy fancy goals. I'll look for highlights tomorrow to put up on the next post. Dallas (Stars) should take this game. I'm not used to them being a better home team than road team. Good for the fans I suppose.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

It's Been A While

Three days shy of a month long break. What did we miss? 14 games. 5 Wins. Second to last in the Pacific Division. 4-ish points out of a playoff spot. Before looking that one up, I figured it would have been much higher than just 4. The best way to describe this past month: It's just bad hockey. This team is capable of playing better, but the poor play of Matt Niskanen, loosing Mike Ribiero to the throat injury, and just woeful goaltending is holding this team back. For a moment I thought they had turned it around; a big comeback on national television against the second best team in hockey (Chicago) followed by another big game on New Years Eve against Anaheim (including a hat trick by Eriksson...good things happen when I don't go on my birthday). The club, riding high, then dropped 5 of the next 6, getting outscored 23-10. Both netminders are struggling, and the offense is pretty spotty as well. On the positive, the penalty kill hasn't been too horrible, and Brad Richards is racking up points left and right; but the dry spell, coupled with the Mavs and Cowboys winning, (quite possibly even the Rangers simply signing players) have returned the team to roughly an afterthought on the front of the Dallas Morning News sports page.

Regardless, GO STARS