Trade stuff

I'm late today and with not much to say. It's been day I set aside for personal tax stuff and it is finally done. I'll be back tomorrow with some thoughts on the Sharks game.

Anyway....

The fire sale is on in St. Louis. Doug Weight to Carolina and Mike Sillinger to Nashville. The Sillinger trade has a bigger impact on the Stars because he stays within the conference.

I've always like him and I think he'll be a good fit in Nashville. His style with blend in well with the team the team David Poile and Barry Trotz have put together in Nashville. He's a hard working, versatile player and he can bring some scoring punch as well.  He and Yanic Perrault give the Predators a pair of great faceoff guys, which will come in handy.

As far as the Hurricanes, and what they gave up to get Weight,  they needed to make a move to boost their forwards. They've been using seven defensemen at times this season. Losing centers Matt Cullen and Josef Vasicek for extended periods of time played a role as well.

The Blues get a first round pick in 2006 and fourth round picks in both 2006 and 2007. They get three players and gave up LW Erkki Rajamaki, who is playing in Finland this season after playing in the AHL last season.  Let the rebuilding begin in St. Louis.

30 January '06 - - default| No comments - § ¶

Detroit game

Even though the official stars of the game had Jussi Jokinen as the No. 1 star yesterday, I think Marty Turco was the No. 1 star. That was Turco at his best. Aggressive, a little cocky and, most important, he was stopping shots. Tough shots and some of them through heavy traffic.

He's looked very good the last two games and I think that is the big positive for the Stars. The shootout wins are nice, provide much needed points and are a blast to watch, but this team needs Turco at his best if they want to do some damage when it matters. 

It was nice to see Turco finally get a win over the Red Wings. He may say it doesn't matter, but at least people will stop asking him about it or focusing on it every time the two teams meet.

I have to be honest, the first words out of my mouth, and to no one in particular, after Henrik Zetterberg missed on his shootout attempt were: "Hey, he can't do that. That should be a goal."

My gut reaction was that Turco threw his stick. He may look like he drops it, but that is second time he's done it this season. He got caught this time. Earlier in the season he did it on a penalty shot and got away with it, and that one was more blatant.

It didn't affect the outcome of either game, so it's no big deal. As Dave Tippett said, it added to the drama of the game.

That was a great game. There was some electricity and a playoff feeling to it. It was just a great hockey game between two evenly matched teams.

The Stars won yesterday because their goaltender was great, their penalty killing was great although it allowed a goal, they gave the Red Wings nothing at even strength and they are the masters of the shootout.

That Stars' five-on-three kill in the first was superb. The Stars did a marvelous job of taking away shooting lanes and gave the Red Wings very little with which to work.

The Red Wings lost because their five-on-five offense has gone in the toilet lately, they didn't win the special teams battle even though they scored a power play goal and Manny Legace was poor in the shootout.

I take it Mike Babcock doesn't think much of the shootout. He referred to it as "that thing at the end." It's not the greatest way to settle a game, but right now that's the way it is done and the Stars are using it to their advantage.

29 January '06 - - default| two comments - § ¶

Odds & Ends

That was something else last night. It's hard not be impressed with the Stars resiliency and their ability to win games late.

In a way last night's game in Denver resembled Wednesday's  St. Louis game in ways. The Stars were lackluster at times. The penalty kill struggled. But they scored late to tie and then won in the shootout.

But the big difference last night and a big positive in this game was the play of Marty Turco. He really looked sharp. That's as well as he has played in a while. And it came on a night when the Stars needed their goaltender to be at the top of his game.

Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News has a column on Turco this morning. From a timing standpoint, it would have been better coming on the heels of a rough outing for Turco.

But Cowlishaw raises some good points. Towards the end of the column he writes:

But in the last 32 games of the regular season, Stars fans need to see him return to the confident, athletic style that made him a record-setter three years ago.

I think we saw some of that last night. I am not sure I am totally on board with trying to turn him into a patient goalie. I think he's at his best when he's aggressive, challenges shooters and goes with his instincts.

Although most of the article is about Turco, Cowlishaw opens his column this way:

At the 20-game pole, you generally get a feel for what kind of a hockey team it is that you are watching. The Stars hit the 50-game mark in Colorado on Thursday night.

I haven't got a clue what they are all about.

The record says one thing. The eyes, all too often, say another.

You know what? You can say about most of the teams in the league this season. Even Ottawa, which probably has the best team in the league, can look pedestrian at times.

Call it the parity factor, especially in the West. There is just a ten point difference right now between Detroit at the top and Edmonton at the No. 8 spot. Edmonton's three points away from being the No. 3 seed.

That's not much of a gap. There are only three weak teams in the conference -- Chicago, St. Louis and Columbus.

Minnesota, which ranks 11th in the West based on winning percentage, is four games over .500.

As much as everyone keeps watching what the Kings are doing in relation to the Stars and the Pacific Division standings, the Kings are only three points ahead of eighth place Edmonton. And the Kings have played more games than everybody. The Sharks trail the Kings by 11 points, but have six games in hand. Anaheim trails LA by nine points, but has four games in hand.

Kings play .500 hockey the rest of the way, they could miss the playoffs if San Jose, Anaheim or Minnesota can average about six points every five games. Things are just that close. 

I'm not a huge fan of parity, but it does make things interesting. A top three seed is nice with home ice and everything. But I am not sure you are going to catch a weak team in the six, seven or eight hole in either conference. I think the NHL has always had decent parity with the potential for lower seeds to knock off higher seeds in the first round. But with the cap the league has, as chef Emeril Lagasse would say, kicked it up a notch.

27 January '06 - - default| No comments - § ¶

Blues game, looking ahead

The Stars dodged a bullet last night. When St. Louis got possession of the puck with about minute to go and Turco out of the net, I started to think this game was going to end up in the loss column. But a big play by Jussi Jokinen and the goal by Philippe Boucher turned it around and they ended up with two points.

It was an exciting finish, and they got the two points, but this team is still struggling to put together complete games. If it's not one thing then it is something else. They just seem to go into lulls during the course of almost every game. Not sure why. Every game is going to have an ebb and flow, but this goes beyond that.

The good thing is they seem to be able to overcome it on a lot of nights and find a way to get the points. And that is still the bottom line. But as Bill Guerin said the other day, you can't be fooled into thinking you played well just because you won.

I thought St. Louis, considering the team they have, played well. They played smart and handled the Stars pressure well at times. When they didn't, Curtis Sanford eliminated a lot of the mistakes. 

The next few games are going to be a good test. Colorado, Detroit, San Jose and Nashville are on the agenda. San Jose is the only one not currently in the playoff picture, but they are playing as well as anyone else right now.

After those four games, it's St. Louis again, Nashville at home and then a road trip to Phoenix, San Jose and Los Angeles to wrap it up before the break.

This will be a good measuring stick stretch to see just where this team stands at the break.

I am looking forward to tonight's game. Colorado has been playing very well lately. It's been a while since the two teams played, so it will be interesting to see how they stack up right now.

Anyone see J-S Giguere lose it last night against the Oilers? He went after Ryan Smith, who was bothering Giguere with his stick just before the puck went into the net while the Oilers were on a five-on-three power play. That goal put the Oilers up 4-3. Giguere got penalized, meaning another five-on-three PP for the Ducks and they scored again.

After the game Oilers coach Craig MacTavish offered this comment: "I've never seen a guy like that implode at that level in a game this meaningful for their team."

Edmonton moved six points ahead of the Ducks for the final playoff spot with the win.

26 January '06 - - default| one comment - § ¶

Sharks-Kings, Niinimaa

I stayed up last night to watch the Kings and Sharks. San Jose won 4-1 and basically were all over the Kings, who had lost in a shootout Monday night.

It obviously has an impact on the Stars and Kings battling for first in the Pacific, but the Sharks are creeping up on that last playoff spot in the West. They are four points behind Edmonton for the eighth spot and have three games in hand.

Since the beginning of December, which just happens to coincide with the Joe Thornton trade, the Sharks have posted the best record in the Pacific. They are 15-5-2 for a winning percentage of .727. 

Here are the Pacific Division records for December and January with the teams ranked in order of winning percentage.

It looks like when the Stars made the deal that sent John Erskine to the Islanders for Janne Niinimaa, the Stars did more than just trade one defenseman for another. They traded one whipping boy or another as well.

Niinimaa has been here two weeks and he already seems to be taking some heat, especially on some of the message boards. The question of the Stars maybe playing better without him in the lineup was brought up in Mike Heika's article in today's Dallas Morning News. Of course, Stars coach Dave Tippett shot that one down. It's a team game, you know. Win as a team, lose as a team.

I admit Niinimaa hasn't been very good so far. The Janne Niinimaa we have seen here in Dallas is the one the Islanders wanted to dump.

But I think it is still a little early to write the guy off. Again, he's only been here two weeks. But if this doesn't work out, it could be a problem because of the cap. The Stars are basically in a position where they don't have a lot of room right now. To add a quality player they might have to move a quality player.

Congratulations to Stars prospect Junior Lessard, who has been selected to play in the AHL All-Star Game, which will be played next week in Winnipeg. Lessard replaces Iowa's Matt Greene, who has been called up to Edmonton.

25 January '06 - - default| No comments - § ¶

Odds & Ends

Mario Lemieux is retiring today at 2 p.m. He's been sidelined recently with an irregular heartbeat. He retired in 1997 but made a comeback a few years later. You think about all the health problems the guy has had and he still has been one of the most remarkable players in the game's history.

He gets some rare bone disease following back surgery in 1990-91, misses a huge part of the season, and comes back to put up 44 points in the playoffs as the Penguins win the Cup.

In 1993-94 he misses a month or so after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, returns to the ice and wins the NHL scoring title.

He has 1,723 points in 915 NHL games. Simply amazing.

Of course, the Penguins are a mess. The team has been horrible. Ziggy Palffy called it quits last week. The team is up for sale again. There are questions about the team's future in Pittsburgh.

Good win for the Stars last night. Nothing pretty, but a good, hard working win. I thought the team defense and penalty killing were superb. Probably the difference in the game.

Brenden Morrow was superb.

I think a guy who hasn't been getting a lot of attention, but who has played well recently is Jaroslav Svoboda. He's done a nice job on the fourth line the past couple games.

Normally a game against the Blues, whom the Stars play Wednesday, would draw a yawn. But the Blues spanked Vancouver 4-0 last night to end a nine-game losing streak. Maybe they'll give the Stars a game. The Stars play the Blues again on February 4. Between then and now the Stars have games against Colorado, Detroit, San Jose and Nashville. Those four games are going to be a good test to see where the Stars stand as January ends and February begins.

24 January '06 - - default| No comments - § ¶

All-Star Announcement

I got back a little while ago from the news conference at the AAC officially announcing that Dallas will host the 2007 NHL All-Star Game. It will be Wednesday January 24th in prime time and will be broadcast on OLN here in the United States. I think it's interesting that they are changing it to a weekday. I like the prime time aspect. I'm not sure how it will do on OLN as far as ratings. I don't think NBC would even consider a weekday broadcast in prime time for the NHL All-Star Game.

A lot of the details are still in the planning stages so all that information will come in time.

Mike Modano, Sergei Zubov, Jere Lehtinen, Bill Guerin and Jason Arnott were on hand for the announcement since they were past participants in the game. Janne Niinimaa and Marty Turco were mentioned as past participants, but were not there because they were receive treatment after the morning skate.

Brett Hull was there and did his best imitation of Vanna White when he and Modano unveiled the logo for the game. He struck a nice pose and pointed to the logo, which I like. You can see it over at the Stars Official Site.  

I got a shirt with the logo on it from one of the Ice Girls. I skipped the lunch. Had to get on with other business. It looked decent.

I'll have a write up later in the day on the main site.

23 January '06 - - default| one comment - § ¶

Tampa Bay game

What an ugly start to last night's game. I don't want to get too caught up in to the Stars' play over the last two periods because Tampa Bay eased up on the pressure once it had built the 5-1 lead. A loss is a loss. 

Tampa Bay's forecheck was impressive in the first period. It completely baffled the Stars.

If you go back to the Atlanta game, there was about a 51 minute stretch of hockey where the Stars had been outscored 10-1. That's brutal.

I have to admit I was surprised to see Marty Turco in net last night. I didn't think he looked ready to go in practice Thursday. I used the term "cautious" in describing his movements in the practice update on the main site. In other words, he was tentative to me. Maybe he felt great when he got out of bed Friday and got to the rink. I don't know.  I was just surprised to see him play based on what I saw Thursday.

I don't think you put last night's loss on his shoulders alone. A couple of those goals hit traffic. And he wasn't the guy coughing up pucks. This really is a team problem.

It's a lot of things. From the defensive breakdowns to the goaltenders not being able to make the big save to eliminate those mistakes. It is just sloppy across the board.

No doubt the Stars have been through a rough stretch as far as the schedule. They played 19 games in 36 days and some physical and mental fatigue has surely set in. But it's not going to get any easier towards the end of the season when they play 24 games in 47 days after the Olympic break. And that Olympic break isn't going to be much of a break for for about a third of the roster with several key players having traveled to and from Italy for the Olympics and played a lot of hockey in a short time over there. 

Dave Tippett said this little stretch here has been as much as adversity as the team has faced this season. Compared to other teams, I don't think the Stars have seen that much adversity. Primarily because they have escaped a rash of key injuries. The Philippe Boucher broken finger has been about it. There have been a few nicks and dings here and there, but nothing major.

The Stars have lost 36 man-games to injury. The Kings are at 211 heading into this afternoon's game with the Sharks. The Flyers are at 228. Those two teams have had rough schedule stretches too. In my opinion, the Stars adversity level has been pretty low.

Right now it centers on these dismal stretches of hockey they seem to play within games, especially early. The comeback wins over Anaheim and Detroit glossed over that problem, but it can't be ignored now.

You have to love the way Tampa Bay is playing right now. The last couple games at least. That's a fun team to watch when they are at the top of their game. As Darryl Sydor said in the first intermission interview with Razor, the motto of the Lightning is: "Safe is death." In other words, we're going after the other team and if we lose being aggressive, so be it. It worked last night.

21 January '06 - - default| two comments - § ¶

Atlanta game

I don't think there is much to say about last night's game. The Stars were flat. I can't think of many positives. The power play scoring twice was nice and so was getting an early lead, but it in the end none of that mattered.

The team is in a little funk. They are struggling with consistency over the 60 minutes of a game. They are really good at times and pretty pedestrian at others. They need to put together some good solid efforts for an entire game. They just aren't getting that right now.

Atlanta's a good team. The Thrashers have really turned it around and getting some stability in net has really helped. Ilya Kovalchuk was quiet. I think he got benched for a while in the third. Marian Hossa was great.

The Ticket's Bob Sturm thought the crowd was flat as well. Sturm spent a lot of time talking about that on The Ticket's post-game show.

Here's a short audio clip of what he had to say on the topic.

I'll be honest, I am not someone who really gets into a lot of the game presentation stuff. Never have been. Even as a kid. At the same time, I know it is important and plays a big role in the atmosphere. I just don't have an opinion on it. I still found Bob's commentary interesting. He and Dan McDowell spent a lot of time talking about it last night.

Quite a shocker from Pittsburgh's Ziggy Palffy yesterday. He's going to retire for personal reasons, a shoulder injury being among them. He's been struggling lately but he still had 42 points in 42 games for the Penguins. Remarkably, he was a plus-five on a lousy defensive team. I've always liked Palffy. He was an excellent player.

19 January '06 - - default| one comment - § ¶

NHL ratings

Here's a look at the NHL ratings on NBC compared to other sports programming on the broadcast networks this past weekend. I included both Saturday and Sunday.

Ilya Kovalchuk in town tonight and he is on a roll. He's got 34 goals, including 17 in his last 15 games. Right now he's on a pace for 60 goals. The last time someone hit the 60-goal mark was 1995-96 when Jaromir Jagr scored 62.

Another Thrasher to watch is goalie Kari Lehtonen. He was hurt in the first game of the season, but has finally retuned and is playing well. He's considered the Thrashers' franchise goalie. He's big and quick.

I watched a little bit of the Kings-Lightning game last night. Lightning won 4-1. One thing I noticed is the Kings really miss Lubomir Visnovsky on the power play. The Kings had a chance to get back in the game late in the second when they were down 3-1 with a couple of power play chances and generated absolutely zero.

18 January '06 - - default| one comment - § ¶

Odds & Ends

NBC's ratings for Saturday's three regional games weren't great, but they were up from ABC's broadcasts from 2003-04. Saturday's games apparently got a 1.5  rating according to the Toronto Star. That's up from about the 1.1 to 1.2 ABC averaged in 2003-04. The 1.5 rating equals about 1.65 million households. I haven't seen a breakdown of everything yet.

There's not much to say about last night's game other than falling behind finally caught up with the Stars. The special teams didn't perform well. Montreal's special teams did. The Habs power play is 7-12 since Bob Gainey took over behind the bench. 

The Stars power play is really struggling right now. There just seems to be a lack of urgency at times. Montreal's power play had urgency and it paid off. They got pucks and people to the net on the first two.

The Stars have not looked sharp in the last two games and Atlanta is coming to town Wednesday. The Thrashers have been on a roll lately although they have been beating up some weak teams.

Ovechkin has 32 goals and is now two behind Ilya Kovalchuk, who will be in Dallas Wednesday, for the league lead.

Some good games tonight if you have NHL Center Ice. Carolina at Philly, Eddie Belfour and the Leafs are at Colorado and Tampa Bay is at Los Angeles.

Tampa Bay lost last night to the Sharks, who are on another little roll. It seems like San Jose is either riding a winning streak or a losing streak. Right now the Sharks have won four in a row and have moved to within six points of eighth place Edmonton and have three games in hand. They host the Oilers Thursday. That will be a key game. 

If you get a chance, check out the clip of Alexander Ovechkin's second goal from yesterday against Phoenix. It was spectacular. He put the puck in the net while sliding across the ice and rolling over.

You can see it at the highlights section of NHL.com.

17 January '06 - - default| No comments - § ¶

NBC Coverage

Some thoughts on NBC's coverage. I thought it was OK for the first weekend. I flipped around between the three games, but didn't really watch a lot of Detroit-New York or Philly-Colorado. I, obviously, watched the Stars-Bruins.

I realize there are a lot of people who find anything other than Ralph and Razor a drop in quality. But I am not one of them. I've always enjoyed watching the Stars games on national broadcasts because I like to see how they are covered and what the perception of the team is. I thought the coverage and commentary on the Stars was pretty good and fair.

A lot of the stuff is nothing new but these guys aren't targeting just a Dallas audience. It is, after all, a national broadcast. Or in this case a regional one.

I figured some people would gripe about the pronunciation of Mike Modano's name, but Ken Hitchcock used to pronounce it the same way. It's a Canadian accent thing.

The way they called the game, which was with less emphasis on calling the action of the game, doesn't really bother me. From my perspective, I can see what's happening. I don't need someone to tell me.

I think the announcers ought to offer commentary to supplement what's going, instead of just describing who has the puck where and then tell us what they do with it.

The describe everything that is happening approach leaves very little time for analysis because there are very few breaks in the action. When you are broadcasting football and baseball, for example, there are natural breaks built in after each play in football and each pitch in baseball. 

So, I'll give NBC credit for trying it and I think they did fine Saturday.

Cammi Granato needs some work. I don't know what her broadcast experience is, but she looked pretty green out there. Let's see how it goes as the season goes along.

The intermission stuff was OK. I didn't watch all of it, but I like Bill Clement and Ray Ferraro. I thought some of the elements involving the rink were a little forced, but getting something like that to work smoothly and come off naturally on television takes time.

I liked the Sidney Crosby feature. I know some people are sick of hearing about him, but I enjoyed it. 

I didn't see any of "Goalie Cam" but I did see what it looked like when Robert Esche wore it in a Flyers' practice recently. I'm not totally sold on its usefulness, but I'd like to see it in a few games. 

It will be interesting to see what the ratings were when they come out Monday.

15 January '06 - - default| four comments - § ¶

Caps game

Most times I would say that a game like last night's Stars-Capitals tilt was pretty bland. Good win for the Stars, but nothing special. Three things obviously made this game a little different.

First, it was Janne Niinimaa's first game as a Star. I thought he played well. Nothing spectacular. I thought he played a pretty simple game. Looked good moving the puck. He's a guy still getting used to his new team. It was a good Dallas debut.

Second, was Marty Turco. After getting pulled in his last two starts, it was interesting to watch him. I thought he was very good. I thought he kept things pretty simple as well. He didn't seem to wander too much. One time when he did go behind the goal line to get a puck he dropped his stick and almost got caught, but he recovered. It was a good bounce back game for him.

Third, was Alexander Ovechkin. He was a blast to watch. He seems to have fun playing and is an amazing talent. Great skill and speed, and he's a strong kid who plays a physical game. There's a lot to like about him.

It was also enjoyable to watch him in some one-on-one situations with Sergei Zubov, who got the better of Ovechkin most of the night. Zubov's a great one-on-one defender and handled Ovechkin superbly at times. Spent some time talking to Ovechkin as well. In Russian I am sure.

Congrats to Jussi Jokinen on getting named to Finnish Olympic team today.

It's Boston on Saturday on NBC. The Bruins are really struggling. They got blown out 6-0 by the Kings last night. I am looking forward to seeing NBC's coverage of the NHL. I think the Peacock Network will do a good job. I think they want to do a good job. But we'll get our first taste of NBC's work tomorrow.

13 January '06 - - default| No comments - § ¶

Odds & Ends

I'll be watching two guys in tonight's game. Janne Niinimaa obviously. But not as much as I'll be watching Alexander Ovechkin. I am looking forward to see the kid playing. I was going to do something on him for the main site leading into tonight's game, but the Niinimaa trade threw a monkey wrech into that plan.

NHL.com had an article on Ovechkin a couple of days ago.

There's this article in the Washington Post today about what Ovechkin may earn in bonuses this season. The article started this way:

Anyway, it should be fun to watch him. He's basically a one-man show, but what a show it is.

Back to Niinimaa. I thought he looked good in practice yesterday. He looked happy and relaxed out there on the ice. Seemed at ease with Martin Skoula, who will apparently be his defensive partner to start things off.

I was disappointed to see Mathias Tjarnqvist get sent down to Iowa. I thought he had been playing well since his last call up to the big show. But from a cap stand point, this was understandable. The Stars can go with 22 players since Stephane Robidas can be the seventh defenseman or play forward.

12 January '06 - - default| No comments - § ¶

Niinimaa deal

There's no doubt that the Janne Niinimaa deal makes the Stars defense better and more skilled. That's not a knock on John Erskine. I thought he had shown a lot of improvement this season and had played well when Philippe Boucher was out. I think he got a bum rap from a lot of fans. I hope he does well with the Islanders.

As for Niinimaa, I don't have a problem with him. He struggled early this season, but has picked it up as the season has moved forward. He's not as inconsistent as he used to be earlier in his career.

I think he fits into the Stars puck possession game and will be a boost to the team's power play, since he can quarterback it when Sergei Zubov is not on the ice. I'm not sure who the odd man out will be on most nights. Maybe Stephane Robidas. Time will tell. We'll have to see how these guys mesh on the ice.

He ought to fit in well with the team since he'll be joining the Stars' ever growing Finnish contingent. Hopefully, he'll get along with coach Dave Tippett.

Niinimaa is the guy who quit Finland's World Cup team in 2004 over chemistry issues with the coach. Apparently a lot of Finnish players were rubbed the wrong way by the coach.

Niinimaa was also ticked off about not being originally named to Finland's team. Only after Jere Karalahti was declared ineligible because he was put in the NHL/NHLPA's substance abuse program, did Niinimaa get put on the roster. Even then, he wasn't sure he wanted to play.

"It took me a long time to decide to take part when the offer came. I wondered if I’d be able to give it my all. We discussed it with the coaching staff, whether I had something to give the team", Niinimaa was quoted as saying by a Finnish news outlet.

For whatever reason, he just never seemed to meet expectations with the Islanders. Maybe the change of scenery will do him some good. Look what it's done for Niklas Hagman, who wasn't working out in Florida.

Overall, I like this move. I think Doug Armstrong has done a great job managing the cap and putting together a very, very good team. It's going to be an interesting second half of the season.

11 January '06 - - default| one comment - § ¶

Odds & Ends

It was kind of boring game last night, except those boards at the Xcel Energy Center made it interesting at times. Two of the three goals came off wacky hops off the end boards. Felt bad for Manny Fernandez to see his his six-game winning streak get busted on a shot like that.  Good win for the Stars though.

Rough game for Bill Guerin. Just 9:46 of ice time, six penalty minutes and one shot on goal. He only got 1:39 of power play time, which I found surprising. He didn't see a lot of ice time after taking that double minor in the second period that included the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. After he took the crosscheck in the third, the only time he saw the rest of the game was right after he came out of the box. He sat the final five minutes or so.

Kings got blown out in Anaheim last night, so the Stars have sole possession of first in the Pacific and are a point behind the Red Wings for first overall in the West. Red Wings are in Carolina tonight and that tilt is on OLN.  Once again, Carolina is playing well so that could be a tough game for the Wings. It will be interesting to see how they bounce back after the disaster against the Stars.

Another good game is San Jose at Boston because of the Joe Thornton returns to Boston angle.

Speaking of Boston and national games, the Stars will be on NBC this weekend playing the Bruins. I am looking forward to seeing what the Peacock Network does with the NHL. I

With Chicago's Tuomo Ruutu going down with an ankle injury that will keep him out of the Olympics, Jussi Jokinen should get strong consideration as a replacement for Finland.

Alexander Ovechkin comes to the AAC on Thursday. He is now one of those guys I think is worth the price of admission all by himself.

10 January '06 - - default| No comments - § ¶

Red Wings game

That was another great comeback Sunday in Detroit. I am not sure the Stars can keep falling behind 3-0 and getting two points, but they did it Sunday and that's all the matters right now.

Sunday was impressive because they didn't just squeak by the Wings; they blew them out in the third period with those three goals in two-and-a-half minutes. That Niklas Hagman goal was big. Really big. The timing couldn't have been better. That line of Hagman, Niko Kapanen and Antti Miettinen is playing well and it was nice to see them get a goal, especially a big one like that.

Right now the Stars have really developed four solid lines. The addition of Hagman has helped. So has the play of Mathias Tjarnqvist, who has a goal, an assist and a plus-three rating in four games since his latest call up from Iowa.

I guess Bill Guerin is off the hook for now. Marty Turco has been tied to the whipping post by those who feel the need to beat up on somebody. Turco wasn't very good against Anaheim. I'm not sure about Detroit. He gave up a five-on-three and then it looked like he was screened on the other two goals. It's hard to say.

Regardless, he needs to get his focus back. His confidence too. He probably won't start again until Thursday since Hedberg is going to get the start tonight in Minnesota.

Can't say enough about Hedberg. He's been great. I think the team has confidence in him and he's given his teammates a lift in two straight games. If it weren't for late goal in the St. Louis game, Hedberg would have three straight appearances with no goals allowed. That's impressive.

It should be a good game in Minnesota tonight against the the surging Wild, who have won nine of 13 games. Kings are at Anaheim tonight, so that game will be worth watching as well.

09 January '06 - - default| No comments - § ¶

Ducks game

Well, not a good first game after the big contract extension for Marty Turco, eh? Good peg for the post-game media reports on the game, but it's just one game.

A lot of fuel for those who doubted the wisdom of the move to lock him up long-term at big money. Am I concerned? No. Again, it's one game.

The wisdom of the move will still be determined over the long-term, not on a Friday night against the Mighty Ducks, a Sunday game in Detroit or this season alone. It will determined over the length of the contract.

Anyway, great comeback by the Stars. Superb game by Brenden Morrow. He really stepped up with a huge effort. His great work on the penalty kill and the shorthanded goal that resulted early in the third period was the turning point in the game. I had to do a double take and then a triple take on the stats sheet when I saw 13 hits.  

Great return by Philippe Boucher as well. Johan Hedberg was superb. And Antti Miettinen came up with a big goal in the second and then the game-winner in the shootout.

Turco wasn't sharp in the first period, but neither were the rest of the guys in front of him. They looked like they were skating in mud at times. The Ducks just had more jump to the their game.

These comebacks are exciting to watch and they lead to some great victories, but I'm not sure the Stars can keep getting away with spotting their opponents these two or three goal leads. It will catch up with them sooner or later.

Another measuring stick game against the Red Wings Sunday. It will be interesting to see if the Stars can stick to their simple road game and give the Red Wings are run for their money in this game. A win would be a nice confidence booster for the Stars.

07 January '06 - - default| No comments - § ¶

Turco extension

I liked the move to sign Marty Turco to a long extension and have no problem with the money the Stars gave him to get the deal done. I don't think it will be much of a problem for next season. The cap is going up and the Stars will still have a lot of room to fill out the rest of the roster.

I am fully aware of the concerns some people have that Turco has been pedestrian in the playoffs, but in my opinion, under the new economic system and the parity it inspires, just making the playoffs is the first challenge. Having Turco under contract through 2009-10 should keep the Stars very competitive for quite a few seasons.

An elite goaltender is a prized commodity and Turco is an elite goaltender. I look at good teams like Tampa Bay and Colorado, both of whom could be fighting for a playoff spot at the end of the season because their goaltending issues, .

That's not to say a good goaltender is all you need. He's got to fit into the bigger picture of the whole team. As long as Doug Armstrong continues to surround Turco with good players, this team has a good shot at being a contender for the next five years. That's not bad in a salary cap driven league like the NHL.

Whether people like or it not, the Stars have basically dubbed Turco their most important player. That's because he is. A lot of what the Stars do is built around Turco's play, especially his ability to handle and move the puck.  Right now, I say this is a great move by Armstrong and Tom Hicks. We'll all have to wait out and see how it plays out, but right here and right now, it was the right move to make.

As for his post-season performances, I've said it before, but he's only been in the playoffs twice. That he hasn't made it past the second round doesn't concern me that much. It only takes one good run and people get over that stuff.

Ducks in town tonight and they have playing some pretty good hockey lately. They are one of the hottest teams in the West. I got sick of them earlier in the season when the Stars played them three times in a week, but I am looking forward to seeing  them tonight to see firsthand what kind of progress they are making.

06 January '06 - - default| No comments - § ¶

Canucks game

I thought the post-game quotes from the two head coaches said a lot about last night's game.

There was this from Vancouver's Marc Crawford: "We have to find a way to battle as hard as they did in the third period.... Give them credit, they came real hard at us and did a lot of good things with enthusiasm and just a lot of passion for the game and we needed to match that and we didn’t."

And there was this from Dave Tippett: "We got rewarded for the good things we've been doing. It was nice to see the team come together a little bit. The third period kind of wrapped it all up."

You do have to give the Stars some credit. They kept plugging away and finally got an ugly goal to tie the game and that took some of the wind out of the Canucks' sails. And then Jason Arnott really deflated the Canucks with his goal. It should be a good confidence booster for him.

Bill Guerin had a great chance and hit a crossbar. It's been that kind of season for Guerin. He's been getting chances, especially lately, but they just aren't going into the net. 

The Canucks played a pretty solid road game the first two periods, but they just got pinned in their own zone too much in the third and they paid for it. I do have to admit I started wondering if the Stars were ever going to get a puck past Alexander Auld. I don't think he was standing on his head, but he was solid.

It was a sloppy game at times, but it was two points and that's the important thing.

With Stu Barnes back, it will be interesting to see what the Stars do with Mathias Tjarnqvist. He's played well in this latest call up and picked up his first assist of the season last night.

I have to admit I split my night watching both the Stars game and the Rose Bowl, which lived up to all the hype. That was a great football game.

05 January '06 - - default| No comments - § ¶

L.A. loss, Turco speculation, new Stars initiative

Well, that was a tough loss last night. In the post-game comments Mike Modano and Marty Turco both said the Stars deserved a better fate. I'm not so sure. It all comes down to execution and the Kings executed, made the most of their chances and won the game.

That five-on-three goal at the end of the second period was huge. That gave the Kings a big boost and was probably the turning point in the game. I looked at the play on the DVR where Zubov was penalized was shooting the puck over the glass and I couldn't see it deflect off a stick. Doesn't mean it might not have happened, I just didn't see it.

It's way too early to start thinking about stuff like this, but a columnist with the Sault Star decided to speculate on where Marty Turco could end up this summer if he hits the open market as an unrestricted free agent. The columnist's theory? Detroit.

The columnist, Peter Ruicci, writes:

First of all, Turco, an unrestricted free agent with the Dallas Stars, loves the state of Michigan. He cut his teeth there as a star goaltender with the University of Michigan, located in Ann Arbor.

The Sault Ste. Marie native is the NCAA’s all-time leader in career victories with 127.

Both current Red Wings goalies Manny Legace and Chris Osgood have contracts which expire at season’s end.

Many consider the Wings, who’ve never been shy about spending for top talent, to be an elite netminder away from winning another Stanley Cup.

By living in the Motor City, Turco and his wife, Kelly, who’s also from the Sault, would be so much closer to their families.
And in a huge hockey town like Detroit, Turco would be a king.

The Dallas Stars are launching a new initiative later this week. It's called Dallas Stars Care, a program to assist parents in ensuring their kids get the most out of youth sports programs.

Dallas Stars Care is a free program and includes the following:

• Stars Stories- Dallas Stars Player Newsletters
• Exclusive Stars Ticket Discounts
• Dallas Stars Free Youth Hockey Clinic*
• Dallas Stars Exclusive Coach’s Luncheon**
• Special StarStuff Coupon (in email after sign-up)

*With discounted Dallas Stars ticket purchased though Dallas Stars Care website
** With discounted Dallas Stars tickets (Min. 12/team) purchased through Dallas Stars Care website

You can click on the Dallas Stars Care link above and sign up. Although the target audience is families involved in youth sports, anyone can sign up and take advantage of the benefits.

03 January '06 - - default| two comments - § ¶

Odds & Ends

If the Kings win in regulation tonight they will pull five points ahead of the Stars and will basically pull even as far as winning percentage. The Stars will have an insignificant .003 lead in that category.

I found it interesting that after Saturday's Kings' win Andy Murray wasn't talking about first place in the Pacific. He was talking about just racking up points to make the playoffs. He thinks it could take 100 to make it. I think that is high.  Colorado is in eighth in the West based on winning percentage right now and they are on a pace for 88 points and 88 has been the points pace for eighth for about the past five weeks or so.

Normally I wouldn't find a 5-5-0 blip after a great run a major concern. Teams go through stretches like that through the course of a long season, including very good teams. But the Stars recent mediocre run has featured wins against some very weak teams and losses in important games that have featured some recurring problems. Giving up a weak goal in the Red Wings game to fall behind early or falling behind by a sizeable margin to the Kings.

I'm not big on blaming the injuries to Philippe Boucher or Stu Barnes either. The Stars have had far fewer injury problems than most teams in the league, especially their top competitors in the West. I haven't added up the injuries from all teams around the league, but the Stars have lost just 29, not including the games players lost to the flu.  The Kings have lost 144. Detroit has lost 116 and Nashville has lost 120.

Ralph Strangis' latest gripe about the Dallas Morning News is the way they format the standings in the paper. The DMN runs the divisional standings instead of the conference standings that show playoff seeds.

Ralph has a point, but I have to admit I don't think I ever look at the standings in the paper. I usually just check them online.

Speaking of online, if I go to dallasstars.com, what standings are on the front page of the site? Pacific Division standings. I click the link for the complete standings and I get the same standings the Morning News runs -- the division standings. I have to click on another link to get the conference standings. If Ralph is going to gripe about the standings in the Morning News, why not get his organization's web site to run conference standings on its front page instead of the Pacific division standings. Just a thought.

02 January '06 - - default| No comments - § ¶