Off-Season Notes

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

For those counting down, the regular season begins Friday, October 8th. This is Big D On Ice signing off until something happens.
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Well...It's Over

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

Three Games Left

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

Special Stars

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

Shark Bitten

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

Signs Of Life

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

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

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

Eight Games Later

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

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

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