Big D On Ice

First Place

2010-12-21T20:16:00.000-08:00

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.

Don't Look Now...

2010-12-06T23:11:00.000-08:00

...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.

Two Games In

2010-10-10T18:45:00.000-07:00

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.

Turning The Page

2010-10-06T21:05:00.000-07:00

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.

Off-Season Notes

2010-07-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

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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Well...It's Over

2010-04-12T16:03:00.001-07:00

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.

Three Games Left

2010-04-05T11:44:00.000-07:00

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.

Special Stars

2010-03-29T13:41:00.000-07:00

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.

Shark Bitten

2010-03-26T20:25:00.000-07:00

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.

Signs Of Life

2010-03-24T20:33:00.000-07:00

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.

Eight Games Later

2010-03-18T19:16:00.000-07:00

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.

They're Baaaaack!

2010-03-03T09:21:00.000-08:00

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.

Olympic Break

2010-02-18T12:16:00.000-08:00

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!

A Win On The Road?

2010-02-13T08:30:00.000-08:00

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.

Quite A Bit For One Night

2010-02-09T20:22:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-09T12:32:00.000-08:00

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.

Hitch In The Road

2010-02-05T08:50:00.000-08:00

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?

Wild and Crazy

2010-02-03T20:25:00.000-08:00

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.

Howling Loss

2010-02-01T13:00:00.000-08:00

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.

Home Ice Big Advantage

2010-01-30T12:35:00.001-08:00

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.

Hot At Home

2010-01-28T13:03:00.000-08:00

*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.

Ups and Downs

2010-01-22T20:40:00.000-08:00

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.

Epic

2010-01-19T14:38:00.000-08:00

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.

Time For Change

2010-01-17T10:50:00.000-08:00

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.

It's Been A While

2010-01-13T19:24:00.000-08:00

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

Lacking Punch

2009-12-16T13:39:00.000-08:00

Last Friday the Stars came up big, bouncing back from two straight blown games by defeating the rival Sharks in an eleven round shoot-out (the only team we can beat in the talent portion of the game). How did we follow that up? A shoot-out loss to the Kings. One can argue over Ribiero's goal that could have prolonged the shoot-out, but really back to back wins would be asking too much from this team. The one word that describes this team is inconsistent. The Stars have been unable to post more than a two game winning streak (which they've done a mere two times) and are right where they deserve to be, one point out of the playoffs. (I'm not sure which is more surprising, the Kings leading the Western Conference or the Red Wings holding the number eight seed). This team is on the fence, not really leaning one way or the other. Considering how we play at home, being a lower seed may prove an advantage come post-season, but unless they find some consistency, the season will end April tenth.

Frustration Rising

2009-12-08T21:39:00.000-08:00

I'm speechless. As if blowing the Edmonton game wasn't bad enough, they do it yet again, this time to the Ducks. This game started off perfectly. Dallas went up three-love. During the Oilers game I remember saying "Brad Richards needs to shoot more. I know he's great at setting up goals, but he's really turning into a pass first player which is alright, except he possesses such a great shot." Well wouldn't you know, he scored twice tonight. Even Modano got in on the action on a nice two-on-one with Steve Ott. Anaheim looked pitiful; Dallas dominant. Late in the second, a stray Duck fresh from the penalty box streaked out, was fed the puck, and got the opponent on the board. No big deal. However, that deal grew with each shift in the third as the Ducks spent nearly the whole period in our zone, pelting Marty with shot after shot. Honestly, Turco played a solid game, but at some point somethings gotta give. Anaheim rookie Dan Sexton scored twice to force overtime, and for the first time this season I was praying for a shoot-out. I know we're anemic in that skills area, but we'd at least have a chance to win, and anyone watching the game knows we had no shot if it were to be settled before hand. The next game this Friday against the San Jose Sharks will be crucial. I'm not going to call this a must win game, but depending on how we play will be an indicator on how this season will play out. If the Stars roll over, we'll need to get our forks out. If they battle back and play well (not necessarily win), there is hope. Interesting post game interviews with Morrow and Turco. Morrow talked about the team needing to stop sitting on leads and not be afraid to win. Couldn't agree more. Anaheim was on the ropes and the Stars let them in. I'd say a team leader, either Morrow, Modano, Richards, even Turco, will step up and get the team on track.

-Skrastins missed last nights contest due to a cut finger. We recalled a guy from our minor league team, meaning all but one of our D-men were under I believe it was 26.
-This was the first time I've really noticed Stu Barnes behind the bench. I liked that.

Well...

2009-12-05T19:49:00.000-08:00

Alright I have two games to catch you up on. First, Dallas beat the Ducks on Thursday, December 3 by a score of 3-1. The Stars were down 1-0 for the first two periods, but then lady luck decided to drop in to give us a flukey goal to tie it. Then the skill came in, and we never looked back.

Now for the real post. Stars lose in the shoot-out (what else is new) 3-2 to the Edmonton Oilers. Sucks I know, but this was my first venture of this campaign to the AAC to see the team live. I purchased one of those mystery pucks signed by a player; this time I ended up with Karlis Skrastins to go with my Barch and Ribiero. Oh and the tickets this time are to a game against Minnesota, should be fun. I was a bit disappointed with the crowd though; I'd say the place was roughly half full and never seemed to build much excitement till the shoot-out. As for the game, Dallas had a great first period, scoring twice by both Benn and Neal. Then they seemed to slow down. The Oilers brought it within one in the second, then tied it in the third. The over-time period was lack-luster, but the shoot-out was alright. Neal finally ended his streak of hitting the post...sadly he didn't hit anything. Morrow hit the post which would have extended the teams chance. Very dissapointing end to the game, but I did like what I saw from Marty Turco. We could have easily lost in regulation by multiple goals, but number 35 kept us in it. I applaud his effort.

Up Next: Five game road trip. Good.

Stuck in Idle

2009-12-03T14:41:00.000-08:00

Dallas lost to Detroit 4-1.

As I have this game on in the background of my living room while finishing up loose ends for this semester, I'm hearing some good things. Now Turco is faltering a bit, but the forwards aren't playing too bad. I may just have the mindset of "oh it could be worse" but I'm not flipping the panic switch yet or writing off the season. We play the Ducks tonight, then the Oilers on Saturday (which I will be attending) then head back off on the road, where we tend to play better, which is strange to say as we've lost our last two road games. Tonight's game will bring some changes to the lines; Neal-Modano-Lehtinen and Richards-Eriksson-Ott. Will they work? Perhaps. Neal will inject some youth to the old man line, and he did play well with Modano last season. Ott could be the bad boy that charges the net, opening up new scoring opportunities for Richards who is actually an elite pointsman at this point in the season (fifth in the NHL). If Eriksson can recapture lightning in his bottle and Lehtinen find the board, this switch could work. Time will tell though, since this is such a hard game to predict. This upcoming road trip could launch the Stars back into the thick of the division, as we tour the West coast against our main competition.

-Barch has more fights than the entire rest of the team.
-I still don't like Matthew Barnaby as an analyst. I hadn't seen him in a while, but then he popped back up.

Week in Review.

2009-11-30T12:05:00.001-08:00

Sorry for putting the site on ice, Thanksgiving week was quite a hectic one for me. So instead of a game by game recap, here's a look at last week, as it will appear on the Richland Chronicle Website. Let's hope there aren't too many games on FSN+, because not getting to watch is getting pretty annoying.

Dallas Stars November 22-28

The Dallas Stars skated to a mediocre week, finishing 2-2-0 after playing three of four games on home ice.

The week began with promise on Monday, Nov. 23 as the Stars shut out the Carolina Hurricanes 2-0. Marty Turco stopped all 22 shots he faced for shutout number 38 on his career. This marked Dallas’ first back-to-back home wins this season.

"There's been a lot of talk about not winning two in a row," Turco said after the shutout. "We came out with an effort that deserved the win. We need to do that on a nightly basis."

The home momentum ended Wednesday, Nov. 25 when the Stars found themselves on the losing end of yet another shootout, this time to the St. Louis Blues, 4-3. Dallas proved they still have fight, battling back and scoring in the last minute of regulation to send the game into overtime and an eventual shoot-out. This marked the Blues’ first shoot-out victory and the Stars’ fifth loss in six tries. Had they converted those five losses into wins, the team would be sitting in second place in the Pacific Division.

"It's a big part of the game and we do put emphasis on it in practice," Dallas' James Neal said, referring to the team’s ability to win shoot-outs. "We've got to bear down and find a way to win that extra point. It's so big."

The woes continued as the Dallas Stars traveled back to Phoenix Friday, Nov. 27 for the second time this season to take on the Coyotes. The result was the same, a 5-2 loss. Dallas has been unable to score more than two goals in each match against the Coyotes this season, which former Stars coach, now Phoenix Coach Dave Tippett won’t complain about. The current Stars coach doesn’t feel the same way.

"They capitalized on the chances they got," Mark Crawford said after the loss. "Our impatience really showed. They got a couple of opportunities because we turned the puck over because of our impatience."

The ship’s course was corrected the next night though, as Dallas defeated the Tampa Bay Lighting 4-3 in overtime. This game had many familiar faces, since the Stars and Lightning made the big Brad Richards/Mike Smith trade two years ago. Dallas blew a two goal lead late, but Tom Wandell played the role of hero by scoring the game winner in over time.

"Had we not gutted it out and got that overtime goal, it would have been pretty disappointing," Stars captain Brenden Morrow said after the win.

The team is still struggling to find consistency, and we’re looking to build off this win in their next game.

(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)

Fight Off Your Demons

2009-11-23T11:09:00.000-08:00

I have no idea why, but this game has given me an itch and the only way to scratch it is at the American Airlines Center. The season is a quarter of the way over and I still have yet to get out there. That should change soon. (Can't wait for Thanksgiving to be over, makes work insane) But I digress. Dallas beat New Jersey 5-3 in a game with the theme of "This is my house". They played some clips I'm guessing from a movie at the AAC (I could hear on tv but obviously not see) so it appears the organization is recognizing the issue of our lack of home ice advantage and is adressing it. The Stars could have easily rolled over and let the lead slip away; instead they buckled down and played a complete, solid game.

First Period
Brian Rolston opened the game by sliding the puck under Turco's pads. Warren Peters tied the game on his second career goal (first as a Star, previously with Calgary) by tipping a Robidas shot. Ribeiro and Robidas both added powerplay goals to put us up 3-1.
Second Period
Then things got interesting. After a poor first period, the Devils pulled Yann Danis to start the frame, sending arguably the best goaltender Martin Brodeur to man the pipes. I don't know about you, but I could hear Enter Sandman playing. (Like what I did there?) Things didn't bode well with the Stars giving up a second goal to Rolston and being held off the board, but they did get some great chances including a dinger on the powerplay.
Third Period
Travis Zajac tied the game, continuing to make our penalty kill look bad after finally looking decent on it. Then Dallas found it's fight. Tom Wandell gave us the lead back with a scrappy, keep wacking at it goal in tight on Brodeur. Robidas iced the cake with his second tally of the night, proving the Star's really can hang with the big dogs.

-So there are some crazy Devils fans here in Dallas. They had a row of guys dressed up as players in full uniform complete with a coach drawing up plays during breaks of play. Classic.
-Need a present for that special Stars fan? Why not the Holiday Hat Trick? Everyone loves the Snuggie...or at least making fun of it. I personally prefered the Razor Scooter they gave out one year, but the times they are a changin'.
-For music fans...
-Wednesday's game against the Blues is Brett Hull night.
Up Next
Tonight is the Holiday Classic (Carolina HurriCANES vs Dallas STARS; it's basically a play off of a Christmas tree, Star on top, candy Canes hanging on it) The Hurricanes have scoring trouble, so I'd like to think the Stars can keep the momentum rolling in a victory.

Statement?

2009-11-21T09:13:00.000-08:00

Dallas comes out on top of Detroit 3-1 in a hard fought, well played game. Dallas has proved all season they can compete with the big dogs, yet for some reason struggle against the lower level teams. Alex Auld dazzled us again, and proved he's much better at giving Marty Turco an ocassional day off than being an every day starter.

First Period
Mike Ribeiro "scored" to get us the lead. I use that loosely because it was yet another fluke-y goal, charging the side of the net and banking it off a defender. We'll take goals however we can get them, but ideally it'd be nice to eliminate the flukes and concentrate on establishing an attack, since there wont be an out of place defenseman every time you have the puck but there will always be shots.
Second Period
Matt Niskanen rifled one from the blue line off the post to give us the two goal lead. Henrik Zetterberg pulled it to one by evading Richards and flipping it top shelf over Auld.
Third Period
I'm quick to criticize refs, regardless of who the call goes against. This time Detroit got screwed, as Brad May shoved the puck clearly over the line in the corner between Auld's skate and the net, but the ruling was that the whistle was blown, killing the play. I'm really surprised that it was still dissallowed despite going under review. Might have been wrong, but I wont complain. Loui Eriksson gave us some inssurance and the 3-1 win late in the third.

Bad Blood

2009-11-19T20:12:00.001-08:00

Well apparently the Stars and Blue Jackets don't get along too well. How did I draw this conclusion? Maybe it was the three and a half fights in the first period? Maybe it was Neal getting kicked out of the game for nearly killing a guy? Who knows, but this game was ugly early and didn't clean up any. I want to blame this on playing a road game the night before, but great teams don't make excusses, they get things done. That being said, Columbus really is a pretty solid team this year, building off last season's success of the franchises first ever playoff berth.

First Period
Dallas gave up a power-play goal to the amazing Rick Nash on a very broken play with just a mess of players in front. They almost escaped the period down by just one, until a bad turnover resulted in Kristian Huselius scoring shorthanded with three tenths of a second left in the frame. Dallas had some great chances but the constant stopping for fights prevented much rhythm.
Second Period
One of the funniest things I've seen in a while was the Blue Jacket's penalty box to start this period. Five players. They had to wrap around inside it was so full. Then it turned ugly. James Neal rammed Derek Dorsett into the glass. Didn't seem like it was that hard of a hit, but the angle and where he hit is probably what caused the damage. Not gunna lie it probably hurt like hell and I feel for the guy (Jake once hit me in the side with the puck, not quite the same but still). To see what I'm talking about, click here. (In case it doesn't work, one of the videos on the side should suffice) Dallas gave up two more but then Modano rifled one in to pull it within three.
Third Period
During the intermission I anticipated a comeback. Not necessarily a victory, but at least the Stars getting back into it. I was rewarded with a scoreless third.

I've been meaning to talk about this for a while. The boards in the AAC really speak to me. My cell phone provider is AT&T. I hope to go to the University of North Texas. Dr. Pepper is pretty good. I love Chipotle. I drive a Ford. My insurance is with State Farm. I get stats from NHL.com. I buy stuff at Best Buy. I can relate to just about half the arena. Pretty sweet.

Up Next
Dallas hosts the New Jersey Devil's Saturday night at the AAC. Not many players remain from the Stars Stanley Cup loosing roster, but I'd like to think the new guy's remember what went down. The crowd should be into this match, look for the Stars to finally build off that and establish some sort of home ice advantage that they so desperately need.

Hello, Old Friend

2009-11-17T15:30:00.000-08:00

Yet another game not widely televised due to college football. Not only did I not get to see TCU, but the Stars were left off Verizon as well. Perhaps they were doing us a favor though, seeing as Dallas lost this game to the Phoenix Coyotes 3-2. Former Stars coach Dave Tippett gets the last laugh in this one, although I can't believe it was too emotional just playing his old team. Now when he comes to Dallas...that will be a different story. I'd like to think he'll get a warm welcome from the crowd though; he never stepped on any toes, and his only fault was not making the playoffs last year.

No in depth analysis here due to the television debacle, but the overall feel to this game would be described as Phoenix having the extra pep in their step...er skate. Some of their new talent came through on the score card and Dallas just couldn't produce enough offense. Neal brought his shoot-out mindset to this game and hit the post on what could have tied the game towards the end. On a positive note, Mike Modano is starting to find his long lost scoring touch, having scored a goal in each of the past two games. Jere Lehtinen is battling injuries once again, and I'm starting to think he'll end up just like Zubov. Great in his prime, then later in his career can't stay healthy and slowly and quietly fades away...to Finland. The season is still relatively young, but the Stars are now ten points behind San Jose. I never thought we'd really contend for the division, but it would be nice to keep it close. As for getting back on the winning track, it doesn't bode well that our next match is against Detroit. Now the Red Wings have had some injuries this season and aren't on par with last season's Western Conference champions, but the Stars and Marty Turco have never played well up in the Joe. I'm not going to predict a score, but Ill say Detroit pulls this one off... Id be just fine with continuing to be wrong on these though.

View From Nick's Sports Grill

2009-11-13T16:15:00.001-08:00

This was my first time watching a televised hockey game without sound (Although hearing five interceptions by Cutler was music to my ears, just not to my fantasy team). I drank root beer. Ate french fries, buffalo shrimp, and fried pickles. Enjoyed great company. Gave my number to an attractive waitress. All in all, a great night. Oh I almost forgot, the Stars finally won a shootout. I won't complain about the victory, but it must be taken with a grain of sand. Or is it salt. To be honest I have no idea how that phrase goes, not to mention what it means. But the point I'm trying to make is that it would have been very nice to win this one in regulation, that way division leading San Jose wouldn't have picked up a point. Either way, seven points behind is better than eight. This was a game where a mistimed bathroom break could ruin the game, since the scoring happened in two quick bursts.

First Period (0-0)
No Scoring
Second Period (0-2)
Pending my math, San Jose scored twice in a two minute and eleven second span, by Heatley and Clowe. Heatley was San Jose's big off season move, and he's paying dividends already.
Third Period (2-2)
Let the flukes begin. James Neal returned to the lineup tonight, giving the team a much needed spark. Interestingly enough, it wasn't with his wicked shooting ability or heavy hitting. Instead, he shot the puck off a defender's skate, popping it into the air and into the net. Modano kept the good times going a minute and forty five seconds later (pending my math) by (finally) scoring his first of the season.
Shootout (3-2)
Marty Turco topped off a great game with some great saves in the shootout, showing the world he has one of the best poke checks in the league. Neal hit the post for I believe the third shoot out in a row. What Dallas needed was a hero. Who would answer the call? Morrow? Ribeiro? Richards? Nay, the man who came through was Stephane Robidas, successful in his first ever penalty shot. Why did Crawford pick him to shoot? Beats me. Maybe he just wanted to change it up. Either way, we got the second point. Hooray.

Up Next:
The Stars travel to Phoenix to take on the Coyotes in yet another big game. No, they aren't too scary of a team, the drama is in the coach. Good ole Dave Tippett faces his former team for the first time since departing. I'll take Dallas over Phoenix in a close game, 3-2

Southern Stars

2009-11-12T13:16:00.000-08:00

Dallas fell to Minnesota 3-2 Saturday November 7. The Stars were outplayed by a mile in the first period, but came back to keep it competitive despite the loss. From what I remember (sorry about being a little late) the game got pretty scrappy towards the end, so this series could shape up to be the rivalry it should be. The Wild sold out the Xcel Energy Center, so let's hope when they come down here January 18. Also, the season ends with Dallas playing Minnesota...the season is young, but who knows, maybe a playoff birth could be on the line. Hello late season drama.

First Period (0-2)
Dallas gave up their first shorthanded goal of the season which I guess was inevitable.
Second Period (2-3)
The Stars came back thanks to Ericksson scoring two power-play goals on the elite Minnesota penalty kill, but in the end the Wild get the last laugh by taking the lead back and not glancing in their rear view mirror.
Third Period (2-3)
No scoring

-James Neal skated and should be back for tonight's game against San Jose. I'd give him my nod for current MVP of the team. He skates hard, keeps his feet moving, delivers hits, scores goals, etc. Everything you could ask for.

Up Next:
As I mentioned earlier, Dallas is in San Jose tonight. Suddenly this becomes a pretty big early season match up, as the Stars look up at the Sharks in the standings (currently eight points behind). No way the Stars loose this game after having nearly a week off, regardless of how good San Jose is. Give me Dallas over San Jose, 5-3

Shots For Everyone

2009-11-07T12:30:00.000-08:00

I seem to remember Wayne Gretzky saying something about missing 100% of the shots you don't take. Crawford must have mentioned that to the team during warm ups, because Dallas has 47 shots on goal in tonight's 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Everyone had a shot, from Benn to Wandell, led by Morrow with eight. The Stars pelted rookie Cory Schneider all night, who played well considering how many saves he made, but Marty Turco out dueled him, stopping 32 of 33 for his fourth win of the season. Dallas' healthy stretch lasted all of one game, since James Real Deal Neal missed last night's contest due to a groin injury (listed as day to day).

First Period (0-0)
No Scoring
Second Period (0-1)
Brad Richards opened the scoring with a tight shot top shelf stick side.
Third Period (1-2)
Brenden Morrow gets the game winner since Mason Raymond scored not too long after.

-Marty Turco continues to play well, which the team needs since they aren't lighting the lamp as much as they could.
-Dallas played a disciplined game, only taking two penalties towards the end of the game.
-My last post was very AP style since I decided to practice some for how I'll write for school.

Up Next:
Dallas takes on Minnesota tonight, in a match up I always enjoy watching. I'm hoping the rivalry of New/Old Minnesota heats up. The Wild aren't the greatest this year, so I'll take Dallas over Minny 4-2

The Game That Should Have Been

2009-11-05T13:52:00.000-08:00

Seemingly every day NHL players get put on the Injured Reserve list or are simply scratched from games due to some type of injury. That being said, this game between the Dallas Stars (6-3-6) and Calgary Flames (8-4-1) was played between two fully healthy teams (all scratches were healthy scratches).

This was a fast paced game resulting in Dallas losing 3-2 to the Flames in Overtime to send the Stars to their third straight loss.

A scoreless first period was dragged down by six penalties (four on Calgary, two on Dallas). Each team had their chances and breakaways, but neither produced any tallies.

Despite a slow start, things began to pick up in the second period. Calgary captain and former Star Jarome Iginla opened the scoring with a goal on an out of place Marty Turco, who returned to action tonight after missing the weekend games due to the flu.

Brenden Morrow failed to tie the game after being awarded a penalty shot on a tripping call by Adam Pardy.

Dallas finally got on the board early in the third after James Neal scored his team leading ninth goal of the season. Loui Eriksson added another to make it 2-1, which looked to be the game winner until Daymond Langkow scored in the final minute to send the game into overtime.

Roughly a minute into the overtime, Nicklas Grossman was whistled for delay of game despite being in the neutral zone. Calgary won the game after the ensuing face off on Iginla's second goal of the game.

"In overtime and 4-on-3, you're just trying to set up the umbrella," Iginla said after the game. "I could see Olli in front. I was thinking if I just got it by him, it could have a chance to go in. I didn't even see how it went."

Clouded by the bad call in overtime, this game was a solid goaltending match between Turco and Curtis McElhinney. No one would have predicted a low scoring game between two of the four highest scoring teams in the league.

Dallas is adapting well to the changes made by coach Mark Crawford.

"We did what we wanted to do against Calgary; we got the puck behind the defense, we really exposed the defense," Crawford said. "I thought they were on their heels the better part of the night. We generated a number of power play opportunities. I thought we were the better club in terms of chances generated by a long shot."

Dallas looks to rebound Friday night against the Vancouver Canucks (9-7-0).

*Photo and quotes from the Associated Press*

It's Video Time

2009-11-03T15:41:00.000-08:00

*Music by Explosions In The Sky* Even though you couldn't really hear it, it was playing.

So this would have been much better had my camera not cut off early every time I filmed it. The Stars are falling, but it's early in the season so it's not too big of a deal (yet).

As promised, here's the Wild View from Section 216

Questions, Comments, Suggestions? Let me know.

Finally, A Second Point

2009-10-29T10:32:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-27T11:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-22T19:40:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-10-21T19:33:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-10-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-10-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

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 27in 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

2009-10-14T10:54:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-10-04T09:22:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

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.