Sinking Sharks and more
So the sinking Sharks are in town tonight. They've lost nine straight. Their GM is talking about shaking up the team via the trade route. I thought the Sharks would be a good team this season, but they have been finding ways to lose.
They generate a lot of chances, but don't finish. They don't give up a lot of shots, but some of the shots they do give up are quality ones. And they just can't get the big save out of Evgeni Nabokov, who in turn suggests that some of situations he faces are not his fault. In other words, it's a mess right now in San Jose.
But I am not ready to write off the Sharks, especially tonight. They've matched up well against he Stars in the first two games, both of which went to overtime. It's not like they've been getting blown out of the water recently. Five straight losses have all been by one goal. Losses are losses, but they are still in games and have been competitive.
Kings are at Chicago tonight. I'll pick a Blackhawks win. That's only because I moved the Kings up so high in my weekly rankings and commented they haven't lost two in a row all season. They lost to Detroit Monday, so I would fully expect them to lose tonight since I cursed them with the comment. The No. 2 spot in my rankings is a curse in its own right. Which ever team I move behind Ottawa automatically hits a tailspin starting that week.
Speaking of rankings, TSN.ca has the Stars at No. 5 this week. That's a good, honest rating if you ask me.
TSN's Bob McKenzie has a column titled Is the end near for Stevie Y?, which I read after watching the Red Wings and Kings Monday night. On paper, Yzerman had a great game. He had the game-winning goal and an assist. But at times I cringed watching him play because it was evident he was struggling with his mobility, which limited his ability to make some plays.
30 November '05 - - default| - § ¶
Weekend stuff, Stars rumor
I won't comment on the Nashville game other than to say it was a good two points for the Stars and that the third line and Marty Turco came up big in the game.
Highlight of the weekend had to be the Marek Malik shootout goal, which you can see here or here. That was classic as was his reaction after he scored the goal. Great stuff.
I haven't mentioned Eklund in a while and today is timely. He's spinning a rumor that the Stars are among the team interested in Petr Sykora, whom the Mighty Ducks are shopping around the league.
I don't see it. Not right now. Sykora would be a major acquisition and I don't think this team needs that right now. If they were struggling and/or had some major injuries, I could see the rumor.
As for the money issue, I think they might be able to fit someone like Sykora in under the cap right now. Sykora's salary is $3.116 million this season. I think at this point in the season it may be down to about $2.25 million or so at this point in the season, which would make him a tight fit for the Stars.
But with everything going well, the Stars are better off letting that cap space they have grow in value as the season moves on. They'll want to add some depth later in the season, especially on defense.
28 November '05 - - default| - § ¶
Last night's game, tonight's game
Last night's game included about 34 minutes of special teams play, which really put a drag on the game. There were some good stretches of hockey and some great netminding by Cujo, but all the power plays is starting to get old. At times it reminds of what it would be like watching a college football game where half the contest is played under the overtime format.
Still, Stars didn't lose last night because of the way the game was called. They lost because Phoenix was better at five-on-three power plays than the Stars. Phoenix scored on both its chances and Dallas failed on both of its opportunities.
Last night both five-on-three chances were just over 30 seconds long and they both began with offensive zone draws. That meant they were going to have to cash in quickly and, under those circumstances, it was not going to be easy.
But the Stars track record on five-on-three's has been dismal this season. They are 1-21 the season and Tippett suggested he may change personnel. We'll see if they get a chance tonight in Nashville.
I am looking forward to tonight's game against Nashville. I think this could be a good measuring stick game for both teams.
I am still not sure how good the Predators really are. Their record is great. They have a great goaltender in Tomas Vokoun, their special teams are very good and they play a superb team game. That's a pretty good formula for success.
Are they the best in the West? I don't know. They have the best winning percentage. You can argue they play in a weak division, but they are 6-1-1 against teams with .500 records or better. They are 5-1-1 against the other teams who would qualify for the Western Conference based on winning percentage right now. They are 5-0-1 against the Central, 7-1-2 against the Pacific and 2-2-0 against the Northwest, which is the toughest division in the West in my opinion. Through last night all five teams in the Northwest were .500 or better.
26 November '05 - - default| - § ¶
Odds & Ends
On an entertainment scale of one to ten last night's game was about a two. Too much special teams stuff. Almost half the game. Maybe I am just sick of seeing Anaheim, although I have to admit trying to keep track of their roster can be interesting.
On the points scale it was a two for the Stars, which is good for the Stars keeps them on a pace with the Kings and the rest of the Western Conference leaders.
I thought Bill Guerin looked great last night. Didn't score a goal, but he had some great chances and ended up with three assists including primary assists on both Jason Arnott goals.
Phoenix on Friday and then what should be a great game Saturday night in Nashville. Hopefully this game against the Predators will be a hockey game and not the special teams fest the last one turned into. I'd really like to see how the two teams stack up just playing hockey.
The Predators host the Kings tonight.
The Sharks lost to Calgary last night. That's seven straight losses for the Sharks, although three have come in shootouts. Things don't get any easier for the Sharks. They are in Vancouver tonight.
Red Wings blew out Colorado last night 7-3 in their first game since the Jiri Fischer incident. Red Wings GM Ken Holland said Fischer has been told to refrain from physical activity for four to six weeks.
For all the U.S. readers, Happy Thanksgiving.
24 November '05 - - default| - § ¶
Guerin, Ralph vs. Heika II
I thought Bill Guerin had some interesting comments yesterday about his play, especially not getting to open spots on the ice. That's his game. He gets to those spots, gets that hard shot off quickly and scores.
Perhaps he tried to change his game too much to adjust to the new NHL. Maybe he got up into this hype about standing in front of the net and scoring goals. That's not his game and not the way he has scored in the past. His ability to score from his hard shot and his uncanny ability to get it off quickly. That's what I think he is trying to get back to and getting to that open ice is the key.
Mike Heika mentioned Ralph Strangis' complaints about last week's attendance article in his latest Inside the Stars Newsletter. Heika writes:
I think Strangis’ criticism is fair. If you came away thinking the Stars were one of the worst teams in the Sun Belt as far as fan support, then we didn’t do our job.
Honestly, I don't agree with that at all. I think if people came away thinking the Stars were one of the worst teams in the Sun Belt as far as fan support, I think they are hypersensitive and then, as a result, overreacted.
Ralph's comment on WBAP was that the article was holding up Carolina as a model of success as far as Sun Belt hockey. That is, well, crap and a byproduct of overreaction in this case.
And there was no bigger overreaction than the Stars trying to pass off Friday's Columbus game as a legitimate sellout. Maybe I need some green and gold colored glasses, but that wasn't a real sellout. If it was, I am afraid of what a crowd of 17,020 (the Stars' current average) looks like.
Heika also writes:
Dallas is going through a natural slump fueled by the lockout, by high ticket prices and by fans tiring of the Stars’ poor playoff performances. Hopefully, all of that was clear to readers in the article.
Should have been. That was the main theme of the article.
23 November '05 - - default| - § ¶
Jiri Fischer
I didn't have access to a TV last night, so I was tied to a computer. The best I could do for watching a hockey game was to take in Comcast's nightly stream of a game on a PC and it happened to be the Red Wings-Predators game.
My thoughts and prayers go out to Jiri Fischer and his family. At last report, he was doing well. He was stable, alert and talking.
The Detroit area newspapers have extended coverage of Fischer's collapse during last night's game. You can read that coverage here:
Detroit News
Detroit Free Press
Michigan Live
22 November '05 - - default| - § ¶
Ducks Moves, Ralph vs. Heika
Interesting news on the Mighty Ducks front. They pick up Todd Marchant off waivers from Columbus. Plus, they let the rest of the teams in the NHL know that Petr Sykora is on the trading block. Sykora makes $3.12 million. The Ducks have some cap space after moving Sergei Fedorov last week, so they could make a pretty splashy deal and not a salary dump move. TSN & the CP are reporting the Ducks could be looking to move one of their top defensemen as well. Sandis Ozolinsh, Keith Carney or Ruslan Salei have all been mentioned.
TSN article is here.
Mighty Ducks are in town to take on the Stars Wednesday.
Somebody emailed me and asked if I had heard Ralph Strangis on WBAP after the Columbus game taking issue with the Mike Heika's article about the Stars' attendance in Friday's Dallas Morning News.
Yes, I did. Thanks to my handy digital voice recorder I have Ralph's rant about the story recorded. You can listen to it here. The quality is a little iffy due to the way it was recorded. It starts during a call in segment of the post-game show, which is where the recording picks up. I think the whole thing is about seven minutes long.
If I knew Ralph was going to be so upset with the article I would have gotten to the paper before he did and replaced it with an edition that contained this version of Heika's article:
The only Stars attendance numbers you need to know: Call 214-467-8277
By MIKE HEIKA / The Dallas Morning News (Edited by MARK STEPNESKI/Andrew's Dallas Stars Page)
While the NHL as a whole celebrated record attendance in October, the Stars saw a drop of about 7.9 percent in their first 10 homes games.
So is Dallas struggling with the NHL lockout more than other cities?
No.
"We're selling tickets every day, and we're getting new fans every day," Stars president Jim Lites said. "If you're asking me what are the chances we'll be back to sellouts, I'll tell you the chances are 100 percent."
Call 214-GO-STARS just in case there are still a few seats available.
By the way, even though Friday's game against Columbus was announced as a sellout, it sure didn't look like one. But that's not an issue that really affects me.
21 November '05 - - default| - § ¶
Odds & Ends
That was a great road trip for the Stars and now they play six of their next seven at home. There will be home games against Anaheim, San Jose and Phoenix. This eight games against each division rival is going to get told.
Carolina comes to the AAC on December 2. The Stars hit the road for games in Toronto, Buffalo and Ottawa about a week later. At least that will bring some variety.
Oh yeah, there's a game tomorrow night. Just got an e-mail from the Stars, which says "the Stars welcome Nikolai Zherdev and the Columbus Blue Jackets."
By the way, Sergei Fedorov will be there too. He made his Columbus debut last night in a 2-0 loss to the Blues. Fedorov had no points obviously, but he logged more than 22 minutes of ice time, had three shots on goal and won seven of 14 faceoffs.
We'll see what comes of Jon Klemm's injury which is said to be be a hamstring or groin. I wouldn't be surprised if he sits out the Columbus game on Friday regardless of how serious it is. The Stars don't play until next Wednesday after that. It's an opportunity to get John Erskine some playing time and he needs it. It's also a chance for Erskine to make the most of that opportunity.
Calgary wins its eighth straight last night. The latest victim was Detroit. Now the points standings say the Red Wings are at the top of the Western Conference, but winning percentage tells a different story. Here's how the standings for the top eight look right now based on winning percentage:
- Nashville (.794)
- Vancouver (.684)
- Los Angeles (.658)
- Detroit (.775)
- Dallas (.658)
- Calgary .(619)
- Colorado (.611)
- Edmonton (.525)
Kings get the edge on the Stars based on the tiebreaker. Nashville has the better percentage, gets the top three seed as Central Division leader and pushes Detroit to 4th in the playoff standings.
17 November '05 - - default| - § ¶
Fedorov, national media on the Stars
I guess it was no surprise that Brian Burke of the Ducks decided to unload Sergei Fedorov to Columbus. There had been some rumors floating around that he Burke was looking to move him. He loses a talented player, but he now gets $4.6 million in cap space to rework his team. It will be interesting to see what he does.
Burke said he wasn't trying to shake up his team, which is 7-7-4 right now, but it will be interesting to see how they respond tonight against the Stars.
For you standings watchers: A Stars win tonight and they'll be tied for first with the Kings, who lost last night to Nashville.
Stars move up to ninth in the latest CBS Sportsline power rankings. The comment that accompanies the Stars ranking is this:
Things would be better if Bill Guerin picked up the pace. He has been held off of the scoring sheet 10 times so far.
The Stars are also the focus of the little article that precedes the rankings, so click on the link to read it.
ESPN's Barry Melrose has a mention of the Stars in his latest The Good, The Bad and The Ugly column. Melrose writes:
.... players like Mike Modano and Jason Arnott are starting to adapt. I think the Stars were one of the teams to adapt the slowest to the new rules. If you watched them early on, you didn't see a lot of skaters breaking away or busting around the defense like the Montreal Canadiens. While the Stars will always be a defense-first kind of team, you are starting to see some offense, as well.
Those Carolina Hurricanes continue to impress. They follow up that 9-0 loss to Atlanta with a 2-1 win over Ottawa. Martin Gerber, who didn't start in the Atlanta loss, was superb last night against the Senators.
16 November '05 - - default| - § ¶
Odds & Ends
TSN is out with its latest power rankings and the Stars come in at No. 15. TSN's comment on the Stars is this:
Five wins in the last six games coincides with improved play between the pipes from Marty Turco (1.79 GAA, .934 SVPCT in November) has the Stars climbing the chart.
The comment is fine. I think the ranking is low, but TSN uses a lot of statistical consideration in their rankings. The Sagarin ratings, which are purely statistical, have the Stars 17th through Monday night's games.
Turco gets the defensive player of the week award for his play the past week. He was deserving. Take away that mess in Nashville and he was practically flawless in the wins over Edmonton, San Jose and Anaheim.
A couple of weeks ago I said I wasn't impressed by the Flames. Well, they've really turned things around. Won their seventh straight last night. Jarome Iginla has four goals and six assists in the last four games. Miikka Kiprusoff is playing well in net. The Northwest could be interesting with the Flames, Canucks and Avalanche battling it out. The Oilers, who beat the Avs last night, and the Wild aren't exactly weak teams. That's a tough division.
15 November '05 - - default| - § ¶
A good weekend
This was a good weekend for the Stars, picking up the shootout win in San Jose on Saturday and the win over Anaheim on Sunday. Solid wins after the Nashville game.
Right now, what you have to like about their play is that they are finding ways to win. They had ups and downs in both San Jose and Anaheim. But they won both games. Goaltending has played a role. Special teams played a role in both wins. You have to like their chances when they get to the shootout.
Marty Turco continues to play extremely well and, as Dave Tippett likes to say, is giving the team a chance to win every night. There have been improvements in other elements of the Stars game, but Turco's play sets the tone for this team.
The Stars power play continues to hum along at a pretty good clip. The big change? What Tippett was drilling into them during practices a couple weeks ago. Playing with a sense of urgency and getting pucks and players to the net. It's paid off. They've scored at least one power play goal in nine straight games.
I thought Sergei Zubov had a great weekend. Another beauty in the shootout against the Sharks and he just really played well last night in Anaheim. He and Philippe Boucher are playing well together. So much for Boucher playing on his off side.
It was nice to see Bill Guerin get a goal. He hardly celebrated. It was more of a "It's about (expletive) time" reaction. I'm not sure what's up with Guerin. He can be streaky when it comes to goal scoring, so who knows?
A couple days off here and then it's another division game against the Ducks, who are still trying to get their act together. They've got some good talent, but whether that blends into a good team is still up in the air. It's a long season, so time will tell.
Weird evening yesterday for the Iowa Stars, who had their game suspended at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines after two periods because of poor ice conditions. A compressor failed, the temperature of the ice got too high and the ice got sloppy. The game will supposedly be made up at a later date.
14 November '05 - - default| - § ¶
Nashville Game
Well, that was one lousy hockey game last night. Regardless of the outcome, the entertainment factor of that game was low. Really low. The way the game was called just sucked the life right out of it. The first call of the game, which was on Nashville, was iffy and it just snowballed from there.
Players started embellishing and it just got worse. Paul Kariya was exemplary in this this department. Heck, I thought Marty Turco had been shot based on the way he reacted after Scott Hartnell interfered with him in the third period.
But the bottom line is both teams had to suffer through the officiating and Nashville did a better job on special teams than the Stars and, as a result, the Predators won the game.
Steve Sullivan's goal to make it 5-3 was spectacular. Those were some sick moves on Sergei Zubov, who is a great one-on-one defender. That almost made suffering through the rest of the game worth it.
Didn't get much of a read on Nathan Perrott, but he did score a goal in his Stars debut. You can't beat that. This wasn't a night for the fourth line with all the special teams play.
To be honest, I am not going to put too much stock into this game. I'll just wait and see how they do in San Jose Saturday and then in Anaheim on Sunday.
I will say I like Nashville's team. They have great speed. Before the parade to the penalty box started they really flustered the Stars with that speed and kept play in the Dallas end for the most part. Of course, that was for about the first five minutes of the game and then the whistles started.
11 November '05 - - default| - § ¶
More Perrott and other stuff
I got a good look at Nathan Perrott at yesterday's practice and thought he looked pretty good. The difference between watching him and the Stars other enforcer candidate, Garrett Burnett, is significant. Perrott is a far superior skater and simply more skilled. He's got a hard slap shot and picked a couple of corners with his wrist shot as well.
Of course, it was just one practice, but he looks like a guy who can help out on the fourth line. We'll see how it goes in game situations, but I liked what I saw yesterday. Perrott looks like he belongs out there and I honestly could not say the same thing about Burnett. Sorry to all the Garrett Burnett fans.
A win tonight and the Stars will tie the Kings for first in the Pacific. The Kings lost in OT last night to Detroit. A regulation win tonight and the Stars will be also tied in the Western Conference with the Predators, who have been stumbling as of late.
To be honest, I don't fret too much about the standings at this point of the season. I would if the Stars were off to a horrible St. Louis Blues kind of start. At this point, I keep tabs on winning percentage.
If you look at that figure, which is a more relevant when there is a discrepancy in the number of games played, the Stars are 10th in the league overall and sixth in the West with a winning percentage of .633. That's a 104 point pace.
The Blues, on the other hand, have a .233 winning percentage and are on a pace for 38 points. I have a feeling the Blues will be missing the playoffs for the first time since 1979 when they finished with just 48 points.
10 November '05 - - default| - § ¶
Odds & Ends
The Stars have really played well the last three games. There's no doubt about that. I still want to see where they are at about twenty games, which is about where they will be after this upcoming road trip. I'm not sure you can look at three games and say, "Wow, they have really turned this around." I think the three game-stretch has been superb, but I just have a hard time getting excited over this little streak or that little streak.
Having said that, I do feel better about how this team is playing. The one thing that I think that has changed over the last three games is that individual areas are getting better. I had said before that the Stars were really doing nothing well. Now there are things they are doing individual things well and I see that as the most positive element of the past three games. Take away the 6-3 loss to L.A. and I think they have been pretty good starting with the 5-3 win in Phoenix.
I think this upcoming road trip will be a good test. They've played well on the road so far this season, so I am pretty optimistic when I consider that and how they have played recently.
I noticed both newspapers pointed out that the Stars' attendance Monday was 15,286, which was the lowest for a game since December 1997. For the season the average attendance for the Stars is 16,869.
The first two games were sellouts and since then they've been averaging about 16,413 per game since then. Three times they've been under 16,000 in attendance. I think one thing that has hurt has been there have been a lot of weekday games so far. The Saturday game against Calgary drew 18,357 and the Saturday game against Colorado was a sellout.
Even trying to rationalize it that way, this still has to be disappointing to the Stars. League wide attendance appears to be doing well based on the NHL press releases. The Stars are among a those teams who have not fared as well. The lockout hurt them. It's going to take time to recover.
Congratulations to Pierre Turgeon, who scored his 500th goal in a 5-2 Colorado win over San Jose last night.
There's a new hockey blog out there that has asked me to provide a link, which I will later today. For now you can check it at GoonBlog.com. It's all about hockey fights, goons and enforcers. Hockey toughness too apparently, since they mark Cam Neely's induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
09 November '05 - - default| - § ¶
Nathan Perrott
Well, the Stars make a trade for Nathan Perrott. I think this is a decent move. The Stars need some size, speed and physical presence on the fourth line and Perrott can bring that. He was wasting away in Toronto, so why not.
This isn't a major move, but a tweak. Doug Armstrong mentioned Perrott enhancing the forecheck and he can do that. He gets from Point A to Point B quickly and that should help him put some pressure on opposition defensemen. That's key in today's NHL.
He can hit and, if necessary, he can fight. He's been sitting around doing nothing in Toronto and now he gets a fresh start in Dallas. Who knows. He could be a guy who makes the most of an opportunity.
I'm taking a wait and see approach on this move. It doesn't cost much. With a month and a week already gone in the season, Perrott's cap cost will be somewhere around $367,000 for the season.
Should be a good game tonight. The Oilers are a little banged up, but playing well. Should be fun, although it will be tough to top the enterainment value of Saturday's game in Colorado.
07 November '05 - - default| - § ¶
A very good weekend
Well, I have to say last night's game was the best Stars game of the season. Not just because of the result, but for the entertainment value. That was fun to watch, including the shootout. Marty Turco's save on Milan Hejduk was outstanding.
Niko Kapanen has started to play very well. So has Antti Miettinen. Those two and Stu Barnes have formed a very effective line the past two games. The Morrow-Arnott-Guerin line has been playing well since being reunited. If this team has three effective line it becomes a much better team.
Marty Turco seems to have settled down and has looked very good the last two games.
Saturday was a solid outing for the Stars. Two games in early November don't mean much in the big picture, but the Stars looked very good Friday and Saturday and there were a lot of positives in those two games.
Beating Colorado in Denver was impressive. It's a good sign. I'm not going to read a lot into it today other than it showed what this team is capable of on any given night. It's something they can build on moving forward.
Edmonton on Monday and then a nice little road trip against some good teams. It should be interesting.
06 November '05 - - default| - § ¶
Crushing Chicago
Talk about getting all elements of your game in order on one night. Everything that had been plaguing the Stars most of the season got resolved for at least one night. There was no falling behind. The power play got on track. Scoring came from more than one line. They went to the net. The goaltending was solid. The Stars needed a game like this, even if it game against a team like Chicago, which looked awful.
It will be interesting to see how the Stars come out tonight against Colorado, which has won the first four games of a six-game homestand. Two of those wins came over Vancouver.
If the Stars play like they did last night and Colorado is at the top of its game, it should be a good tilt.
The Stars have Edmonton at home on Monday and then what should be a pretty telling road trip that features games against Nashville, San Jose and two in Anaheim.
That will put the Stars at the 19-game mark. They'll have Columbus at home after that and will take them 20 games into the season, which is basically one-fourth of the way through the season. That should be a good time to really address where the team sits.
05 November '05 - - default| - § ¶
Odds & Ends
Mathias Tjarnqvist got called up. It was convenient timing. Iowa was in Houston last night, but Tjarnqvist didn't play. He's played pretty well since getting to Iowa, scoring three goals in two games. I guess we'll find out tonight if he is in the lineup. I thought he looked pretty good in camp before going out with the ankle injury.
I have to admit it's kind of hard to get fired up about the Blackhawks coming to town tonight, other than maybe seeing hotshot rookie Pavel Vorobiev. The Stars have come up with this idea, which is published on the official site, to get fans into the game:
Stars fans -- come by the west patio at American Airlines Center before Friday's game between the Stars and Chicago and help "Bash the Blackhawks!" The Stars have obtained a Pontiac Grand Am, removed all of the windows and painted it in the Blackhawk colors of red, black and white.
Fans will have their opportunity to take a free swing at the car with a sledgehammer, all to show your love for the Stars and your wish that the Blackhawks get "bashed" by Dallas at the game that night. The fun begins at 6 p.m. and runs until game time, so get there early and help bash the Blackhawks!
I am not sure I get this. It might of made sense back during the Minnesota days when the North Stars and Blackhawks had a great rivalry. Now? Got me.
Got an e-mail from a fellow named Scott who wanted to let me know he has a Dallas Stars Podcast. He updates after every game. You can check it out at http://dallasstarspodcast.net/ or check out the archives and/or subscribe by going here.
04 November '05 - - default| - § ¶
Power outage
Well, I am still waiting for something I can say the Stars do really well. It sure isn't the power play. What they did in the game last night looked nothing like what they practiced on Tuesday.
I thought they were far more aggressive in their power play approach in practice on Tuesday's. Fewer passes, more players to net, more shots and, as a result, a flurry of chances.
Dave Tippett referred to it as a "sense of urgency" in his post-game comments. I like his term better. They practiced it with a sense of urgency. They didn't execute it that way Wednesday night against the Kings, especially on that five-on-three.
You can say they pass too much, are looking for the perfect play, the pretty play or whatever. It still boils down to what Tippett calls no sense of urgency. The Kings played it with a sense of urgency when they went on a the five-on-three. They score 26 seconds in with a shot through a bunch of traffic in front of the net.
The Stars power play was predictable and tentative. What the two teams did on their power plays was the difference in the game.
By the way, the Stars were practicing the power play again today. Five-on-three and then five-on-four.
The Kings have a heck of a hockey team. They've got skill, speed, a good defense and Jason LaBarbera has been superb in goal. Right now they own Dallas. The Sharks have picked it up a little as well with some injuries at the goalie position. They beat Nashville in OT last night with a shorthanded goal to improve to 7-5-1. The Ducks have started to play well without Sergei Fedorov and Sandis Ozolinsh out of the lineup. This is shaping up to be a very tough division. Phoenix may end up being the only weak link and that's still not a given.
03 November '05 - - default| - § ¶
Hedberg to start
Looks like Johan Hedberg is getting the start in goal tonight against the Kings. I guess I am not surprised. Marty Turco has had a couple of rough nights against the Kings this season. He's got a 6.14 goals against average and a .741 save percentage versus the Pacific Division leaders in two starts. That ain't pretty.
Bill Guerin is apparently out as well. Luc Robitaille out for the Kings.
I still see it as an early big game for the Stars. One thing I'll be watching is the power play. During practice yesterday they were working on some new wrinkles. At least that is how I saw it. Perhaps trying to be a little less predictable. We'll see.
Anyone notice the Mighty Ducks are coming strong as of late. Beat Nashville last night, making it four wins in a row overall and six straight at home. Right now they are playing without Sergei Fedorov and Sandis Ozolinsh.
Nashville has last three in a row and they play in San Jose tonight and in L.A. over the weekend. Maybe the Predators are coming back to earth. They were on the cover of the The Hockey News recently. I guess that means the Rangers are next.
02 November '05 - - default| - § ¶
Stars rankings
TSN came out with its latest power rankings yesterday. The Stars are ranked 23rd with the accompanying comment: "The leading sniper for the Stars? Three-time Selke winner Jere Lehtinen, with seven goals in 12 games. Unfortunately, the Stars need more offensive contributors if they're going to surrender more than 3.5 per game."
Well, they've only played 11 games but TSN still raises a good point on scoring balance. The Stars need more of it. They got it the other night when Stu Barnes and Niko Kapanen scored goals in the Phoenix game. They'll need more of it going forward. Those third and fourth line guys don't need to score a lot, but they've got to chip in every now and then.
By the way, TSN's rankings rely heavily on statistical stuff, which probably accounts for the low ranking for Dallas. The Jeff Sagarin rankings, which are purely statistical, have the Stars 23rd as well.
The Stars don't really stand out in many statistical categories, except that .591 winning percentage. That ties them for 11th in the league.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow night's game against the Kings. I consider this one an early "big game" considering what the Kings did to the Stars the last time around and the fact that L.A. is leading the division. It's should be a fun one to watch.
01 November '05 - - default| - § ¶
