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.
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Since the olympics Turco has won one out of seven games and Lehtonen has won 3 out of five games. You're right about Lehtonen not being in full shape yet. In his first start of the season against the Pens he just looked awkward and he still played decently. So I can't wait for next season when he's in tip top shape. So in hindsight even though Turco had a remarkable week before the trade deadline we shouldn't have kept him. I really hope we upgrade the defense in the offseason. I have a rule where I think any team should keep a new coach for two seasons because the first season is always tough for a new coach. I mean Nick Saban went 6-6 in his first year as coach of Alabama and now they've won the National Title. So anything can turn around with a coach. So we'll see what happens next season.
ReplyDelete-John Swindle