The Stars on the local sports scene

Interesting piece the Stars and hockey in the local sports landscape from the Dallas Observer's Richie Whitt, who can crank out some entertaining stuff. This one is entertaining, but it may not sit well with some.

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

Sharks Game

Well, I am tired. It was great to see the Stars tie it and then win it in a shootout, but it makes for a long night for me. Hit the hay at 3 am and the alarm went off at at 6 am. I feel like the Sharks' power play looked last night. Still, I am probably in a better mood than Ron Wilson. 

Anyway, it was a big two points for the Stars. They need to build on it Thursday. Big game for Mike Ribeiro. Marty Turco came up with some key saves. Philippe Boucher had a solid game before scoring the late goal to tie. 

Mike Modano looked rusty. No big deal. You'd expect that after the amount of time he missed. Getting his conditioning, timing and all the other elements of his game up to speed is not going to happen in one night. 

Of course, if the Stars don't get that late goal to tie, they are looking at an 0-2-1 stretch coming out of the break. There are still some issues there. They are still struggling to consistently create offensive chances. They had a good push in the third period, but before that they didn't have many.  I think Marty Turco could use some down time. They have a few days off coming up in the near future. Hopefully he can get some rest. 

But the bottom line is they are getting points here and there and picking up a little ground on the teams ahead of them in the standings.  

One of the reasons I like watching the Sharks (and I do it often) is you never know what you are going to get. They can be brilliant on some nights and other nights they look like the youngest team in the league, which they are. They could have put this game away in the second period or early in the third and  they didn't. They got outworked. It wasn't so much their youth that did them in this night. Some of their better players were the kids. 

It will be interesting to see how they bounce back on Thursday. Blowing a game is going to happen to all teams. That's one of the benefits of a two-game set like this. It's like a little playoff series. You can watch how teams adjust and bounce back.

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

Modano's return

Mike Modano is coming back tonight. We'll see how it goes. It will surely be an emotional boost for the Stars. That can't hurt. His presence  on the ice will help too. 

These are two big points tonight. What ever momentum they built up heading into the break has taken a hit in the first two games out of the break and could slip away quickly if this road trip turns ugly. Considering they've only picked up one out of four so far out of the break, they could use two tonight. So could the Sharks, who have dropped two of their last three games. That should make it a good game.

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

Modano ready to return

It looks like Mike Modano is ready to return to the lineup. He'll be a game day decision, but all indications are that he will be in the lineup Tuesday night against the Sharks unless something doesn't go well at tomorrow's morning skate.

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

Ducks game

A lot of people seemed giddy after that exciting game against the Penguins. Hey, it was exciting and the Stars got a point. How the mood changes after a loss to the Ducks. That was a rough start for the Stars. Rough game for Marty Turco. Rough game all the way around. They've been handled pretty well three straight times by the Ducks. It's been different each time, but the end result has been the same: a convincing final score. 

Once the Stars got down 2-0 I kept waiting for a key turning point for the Stars. Jere Lehtinen's penalty shot goal appeared to be it, but then less than two minutes later Andy McDonald beats Turco short side from the right faceoff circle. McDonald's goal became the turning point for the Ducks and a power play goal a bit later was the final nail in the coffin. 

I don't think the whole thing should be put on Turco. The best the Stars could do for offense was a penalty shot. That's not going to cut it either. But those two McDonald goal were killers, especially the second one. A save there and who knows.

The Ducks looked like like the Anaheim team that was dominating early in the season. Getting some injured players back helped. The guy I think they missed the most was J-S Giguere. Anyone remember when there was talk during the summer that the Ducks could deal him and have Ilya Bryzgalov as the No. 1 guy? Good thing for the Anaheim faithful that Brian Burke wasn't buying into that one. Of course getting Chris Pronger and Francois Beauchemin didn't hurt, especially with Scott Niedermayer on the shelf right now. 

It's on to San Jose for two big games. The Sharks lost tonight in Vancouver. Roberto Luongo was brilliant in goal for the Canucks, who are one point behind the Stars in the overall standings and back on top in the Northwest Division.

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

Penguins Game

Now that was a fun game. Probably one of the more entertaining games of the season. You don't have get kind of atmosphere every night, eh?

The Penguins are fun to watch. To have that much young talent on one team is something. Marc-Andre Fleury sort of stole the show. Yeah, you sort of watch Crosby, Malkin and Staal a lot, but in the end he's the guy who got them the two points. 

The Crosby-Halpern battle was interesting to watch. Halpern had his hands full and did a pretty good job. Malkin was kind of quiet. Stall obviously had a big goal. Ryan Whitney had a strong game I thought. Mark Recchi had a huge night and Stars fans scored some more points with the ovation.  

Crosby is great to watch because of the skill level, but he's also got a great compete level. He's been tagged with the whiner label at times, but it was great to see him going off on Halpern verbally while the two were sitting on the bench.  

I thought the Stars were OK. They were very good at times and not so good at others. They still got a point and now it's on to a key four-game  road trip.  

Mark Cuban, dubbing himself an "autograph dweeb" was in the Pens' locker room after the game. It, of course, made news in both Pittsburgh papers this morning. Articles are here and here.

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

All-Star Game

I watched it on TV and I am glad I did. That's because the Marty Turco's running commentary during the third period was great. It made the broadcast. Turco had fun with it and it made the third period fun. It was very good stuff. 

I am not going to say that was the greatest All-Star game ever or anything like that. But it had some good moments and was more entertaining than most, especially the recent ones. There was a compete level present. 

Not sure I bought Daniel Briere as MVP. I hope he enjoys the Dodge Nitro. I was thinking Rolston, Perrault, Nash or Sakic. I was hoping Rolston, Perrault or Nash would get the hat trick. I noticed Randy Carlyle had them out there together late in hopes one of them could pop the third one home. 

I think overall it turned out to be a good week for Dallas. There was a lot of positive feedback about the event, the city and the fans. The game turned out pretty good and you can't ask for more than that.

Now it's back to the regular season. The Stars practice tomorrow afternoon. They'll be healthier coming out of the break than they were going into it. There's about a month before the trade deadline. Let the fun begin.

25 January '07 - - default| two comments - § ¶

All-Star stuff

The All-Star stuff wasn't on my agenda for the week because of other business matters that needed some attention. But all that went out the window and I ended up taking in the YoungStars Game and Skills Competition Tuesday night. I should start off with I am not much of a All-Star enthusiast of any of the sports. Just because it is here doesn't change my opinion.

Since I like and watch all four sports, I've got an opinion on how they rank.   

1. MLB (Still tops and it used to be great. All the elements of the game are there and so are the top players)
   
2. NBA
3. NHL
4. NFL 

The NHL All-Star Game suffers because of a lot of the elements that make the sport great - intensity, physical play - are non-factors at the All-Star Game. 

Still, the collection of players on hand and the others connected with the sport is always impressive and that's what makes it neat. I think that is what people have been enjoying this week and that's great. I think for people in the host city it's a special event. For people watching from the outside or on TV, it is going to be totally different. 

That said, you'd like to see the events have some value. There wasn't much in the YoungStars Game. Was it just me or was the YoungStars game lacking in pace. I wasn't expecting a lot with it being an all-star type exhibition, but it was close to awful early on in the game. It didn't improve much as time moved on. 

I thought Kari Lehtonen made some nice saves, including a couple of nice stops  on Jussi Jokinen. There was a big one at the end. I though Anze Kopitar was impressive. But I watch him a lot on Center Ice late at night and am usually impressed. I hardly noticed Evgeni Malkin, except for him looking for breakawy chances.  Zach Parise's name got mention a lot. It was nice to see Phil Kessel have a good night. That tends to happen when you get six points. But there nothing spectacular about the game itself. In fact, it was boring. 

The Skills Competition had its moments. Roberto Luongo was excellent in goal. He definitely stood out among the netminders. The shootout duel between Luongo and Sidney Crosby at the end was the highlight for me. I like the shootout in a skills competition. Still think it is a lousy way to decide a hockey game. But a lot of people seem to like it, so I can live with it in the regular season. Too bad Jussi Jokinen wasn't in the competition. Hey, Marek Malik might have made it interesting.  

Fastest skater? I thought the timing system must have been flawed. Patrick Marleau looked faster than Andy McDonald. 

So we get the All-Star Game itself tonight. I am sure it will a lot better.

I thought moving the game to the middle of the week was to gain maximum exposure. It's another installment of Fox's American Idol tonight. Combine that with the availability of Versus and this will probably be a major dud as far as ratings. Then again, everything ends up losing head-to-head with American Idol. The NHL will just be another victim. 

There have been some gripes about the attendance the first two days. Well, I don't think anyone should have expected a huge crowd on Monday. First, it's a Monday. Second, consider the time it started.  Tuesday night you had another issue with the early start time again. And how many of those empty seats are supposed to be filled by the NHL's corporate sponsors?

24 January '07 - - default| two comments - § ¶

Thanks, Bill

The NHL comes to Dallas for All-Star week and Bill Parcells retires from football. The search for a new Dallas Cowboys head coach is underway.  Parcells is not only the biggest sports story in the area, it's the biggest story period. Just bad timing for the NHL in these parts.

Speaking of football, I thought of Marty Turco while watching Peyton Manning and the Colts beat Tom Brady and the Patriots last night. Don't know why. Just did.

22 January '07 - - default| three comments - § ¶

Wild game/break

A solid win last night to cap off a good strong finish to head into the break. The Stars did a great job of weathering the latest round of injuries. They are in very good shape as far as the standings. They are just to close to Anaheim as tenth place Edmonton is to them. Considering everything they have been through, that's good. They'll start getting players back after the break and the stretch drive will be underway. It's going to get interesting. They've got the game against the Pens coming out of the break and then a big California road trip that will feature a game against the Ducks and two against the Sharks. We'll see where they stand after the dust settles after that trio of games. There will be a lot more time to get into that down the road. 

Enjoy the All-Star break.

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

Flames Game

Funny how the mood changes after a couple of Stars wins. It was despair and frustration last week. Things are a little bit more relaxed now. The panic button has been put away. 

To me the last two games were just four big points that helped give them create some separation from the teams behind them in the standings. They can create some more with a win over Minnesota on Saturday. That would put them in good shape as far as the standings heading into the break. Some guys should start coming back and then they can go from there.

As much as anguish there has been about this regular season at times, the goal is to get into the playoffs. The points they are getting right now solidifies that playoff position. I am not sure the seeding is that big a deal with the parity that exists right now. You can look at matchups with individual teams, but no one knows what kind of shape those teams will be in when the playoffs roll around. A healthy Anaheim team would be formidable. Everyone else in the conference is pretty much on equal footing for the most part. 

When the season starts back up after the All-Star Game there will be about a month before the trade deadline. It will be interesting to see what Doug Armstrong can do. He'll be one of maybe 25 or so general managers hoping to improve his team down the stretch for a possible playoff run. If you look at it right now, 14 of the 15 teams in the East are still in it. The teams in the mix seem to change in the West, but it seems like there are always the given ten (the big three from the Pacific, Detroit and Nashville and the entire Northwest Division ) and then another one or two others making a push to get into that group. Right now it's St. Louis and Phoenix. All that doesn't leave a lot of sellers, at least for now. 

Back to the game. Outside of the guys who scored the goals last night, one guy I thought who really stood out Wednesday was Patrik Stefan. He's really stepped up since Jeff Halpern went out on Monday. I thought he was particularly strong Wednesday. That was the best game he played in a while. He's fit in well with Loui Eriksson and Jere Lehtinen. There were a lot of guys who played well, but he just stood out to me.

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

Kings game/Injuries

It was two points. That's the bottom line on yesterday's game. The Flames lost in Nashville and the Avs lost in San Jose, so the Stars created a little space between the two teams trailing them in points. I know a lot of people are rooting against the Ducks and Sharks, but right now when those two teams can beat those Northwest Division teams they are doing the Stars a favor under the current circumstances. Right now the Stars need to put some distance between themselves and those teams below them. They took a step in the right direction in that regard yesterday.

Big game against the Flames on Wednesday. The Stars have lost the first two games this season to Calgary but the Flames haven't been very good on the road this season, so that's a positive for the Stars. 

Philippe Boucher (bruised chest) and Jeff Halpern (groin) are currently listed as questionable for tomorrow night. That could change once they get evaluated later today. If they aren't ready go go Wednesday there's a decent chance they could be ready to go by Saturday's game in Minnesota. We'll have to see what's new on that front later today. I think Niklas Grossman is coming up today. We'll have to wait for official word from the Stars.

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

Odds & Ends

The eighth place Wild moved to within two points of the Stars last night on an interesting call in the shootout. With Minnesota up 1-0 in the shootout Manny Fernandez needed to stop Denis Arkhipov to give the Wild the win. Fernandez stopped the shot but as he got up the puck appeared to trickle over  the line, Fernandez swiped it back out but not before the linesman signaled goal. The play went to review. Brian Rolston, who was up next for the Wild with a chance to still win it, was told by a Minnesota assistant coach to get ready to shoot because the replay shows it was a goal. The Wild's broadcas on FSN North also has a replay that showed it looked like it was over the goal line. After about five minutes it is no goal. The War Room in Toronto said it never crossed as far as anyone there could see. 

"Officials called good goal," NHL Senior VP Colin Campbell said in an e-mail to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "We reviewed it and had a good view of the puck not conclusively in. We tried to find a picture of the puck in the net completely but found none. Tough call, but [we] had to make a decision as we did not have it across the goal line conclusively."

So the Wild got two points and joined Vancouver at two points behind the Stars in the standings. That makes the two points in the Kings game tonight important. The Stars have dropped back enough to be, for now at least, caught in the middle of fight among those Northwest Division teams for playoff position. The Stars are still just seven points behind the Sharks, but ninth place Colorado is six points behind Dallas and tenth place Edmonton is seven back. 

Over the next three games for the Stars it's going to have nothing to do with style points for me. It will be all about points. They just need to get as many of the six points as they can heading into the break, hope they can start getting more players back and go from there.

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

Ouch!

It looks like everything that has been happening over the past couple months - the injuries, the spotty play, the underachievement by some players - has simply caught up to the Stars here the past few games. The result has been a couple of ugly losses. Before there was just losses. These were bad losses. I thought the Phoenix game, as a whole, was probably worse. But they were still both ugly losses. 

Last night penalties killed them. Considering the Stars horrid PK right now, putting one of the league's top power plays on the job just isn't a good idea. 

The Marty Turco roughing penalty got the ball rolling. The Philippe Boucher boarding major was a killer. I know people gripe about these calls but when it first happened I knew he was going to get a big one for that. You can slow mo it on your DVR and analyze it all you want, but it was a penalty. The five minutes fit the penalty. If that had bee Sean O'Donnell hitting Loui Eriksson under the same circumstances, most people's DVR's would miraculously come up with a whole new interpretation.

The injury situation gets worse with Sergei Zubov undergoing elbow surgery today, but now is the time to do it. He misses a couple weeks and that would put him back right after the All-Star break. Maybe some other players can come back and this team can try to get its game back in order. Right now they are in disarray. 

The injuries have really taken a toll and there just aren't enough players stepping up right now. Some of those guys who have been pulling a heavy load are probably on fumes. It just adds up to a big mess.  

Over the next three games heading into the break it will be survival mode. It's a little early to hit the panic button on everything just because of the last two games. But with the injuries mounting and the team's confidence likely taking a major hit, there is reason for concern.

Ninth place Edmonton is seven points behind with two games in hand. Tenth place Colorado is eight points behind with two games in hand. Calgary, Vancouver and Minnesota are even closer. Calgary has actually moved ahead of the Stars based on winning percentage. The problem is that those teams play each other a lot, so one of them is always picking up points.  Minnesota and Edmonton play tonight. One of them will gain ground on the Stars.

These are really key points at stake next week. It will be interesting to see where the standings sit when the break rolls around.

12 January '07 - - default| one comment - § ¶

Ex-Star Burnett in coma

Sad story about ex-Dallas Star Garrett Burnett, who was with the organization for a while last season. He's in a coma in a Vancouver hospital. He was assaulted following a dispute at a night club in suburban Vancouver. The Hockey News has details here.

11 January '07 - - default| two comments - § ¶

Coyotes Game

That was a dismal performance last night. Maybe it was the seven games in 12 days and coming off the road trip. Maybe all the energy being collectively spent dealing with all the injuries over the past several weeks is finally starting to take a toll on them. I don't know. We'll see how they respond against the Ducks on Thursday and in the remaining games heading up to the break.

As much as people get giddy about the Ducks' woes, I think people should start looking at the teams below Dallas in the standings. That's the real story here. The Stars continue to slip and there are some teams gaining ground on them. Calgary is only five points behind and the Flames have three games in hand. The Canucks are four points behind with one game in hand. If the Stars don't right the ship and start playing better than .500 hockey they risk getting sucked into that maelstrom known as the scramble for a playoff berth.

They've been at a .500 pace for 31 games now. Continue that trend - and I still find it hard to imagine they will - and they end up with 91 points. The points pace for the final playoff spot right now is 88. But the in reality the longer the win a few, lose a few trend continues, the more they get pulled closer and closer to that mad scramble.

10 January '07 - - default| one comment - § ¶

Injury Update

Here's an injury update from Dave Tippett after today's practice:

Mike Modano: He is not expected to return until after the All-Star break. They don't want to risk further injury. He'll be evaluated after the break.

Sergei Zubov: Didn't practice today. He is doing better. Day-to-day.

Eric Lindros: Practiced today. He'll be evaluated after tomorrow's morning skate. Day-to-day.

Steve Ott: Probably two weeks away.

Mike Smith: Had tests today. Day-to-day.

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

Oilers Game

I wish I was the commissioner on Thursday. I would have called Rexall Place and said no shootout. Would have made them played until somebody won the game in OT. The shootout, in this case, was anticlimactic. It sucked the life out of what was a great hockey game. The Stars comeback was great. The Patrik Stefan screw up at the end of regulation and the resulting Hemsky goal was unbelievable. The overtime period was great action. That was a fun hockey game. Until the shootout.

That's a game I'll remember for a long time. I've already watched the end a few times just because it is so much fun. You just can't find that kind of unscripted entertainment anywhere.

05 January '07 - - default| one comment - § ¶

Canucks game

What can you say about last night's game other than Roberto Luongo stole a couple of points for the Canucks. The Stars played well and got the game to the shootout - where they usually clean up - but they didn't get the extra point this time. But at least they got a point. They are all important these days and tonight's will be just as important. 

Give the Cancuks credit. Their penalty was good and Luongo stopped whatever got through. Luongo's numbers this season aren't anything spectacular, but he's made a big difference in Vancouver this season. He was a difference maker Tuesday night in Calgary and he did it again Wednesday. 

The Stars win a few, lose a few clip continues. They are 14-13-1 in the last 28. 5-4-1 in the last ten. 2-2-1 in the last five. That's just what they are these days. As Razor said during the Canucks pre-game show last night, they are treading water. With all the injuries that is probably not a bad thing. Their position in the standings remains about the same and with all these Northwest Division teams beating up on each other, treading water will keep those teams from being able to gain much ground on the Stars.

Nice goal by Loui Eriksson last night. I think he has really played strong the past little while. Last night was a clean breakaway coming out of the box, but there have been a couple of games lately where he has used his speed to split defenders and create opportunities.

04 January '07 - - default| one comment - § ¶

Odds & Ends

Great game between Canada and the USA at the World Juniors this morning. Intense, hard fought game. Canada scores a power play goal in the third to tie the game, kills off a 4-on-3 power play in OT and then wins it in the seven round of the shootout. I still think that shootouts are a lousy way to decide a game like this, but this one was pretty dramatic. The U.S. scored three times to stay alive before Canada finally won it.

Big road trip for the Stars starting tonight in Vancouver. All these teams are in a great fight in the highly competitive Northwest. Vancouver is on a little roll right now. They beat the Flames in Calgary last night for their fourth straight win. They've been playing well at home. Roberto Luongo has been coming up big for them lately.

The Oilers have been struggling so they'll be desperate to build on their win last night over Florida. Calgary is always tough, so this will be a challenging three games.

Nothing much new on the injury front. Who knows when Mike Modano, Eric Lindros or Steve Ott may be ready. I thought Modano looked better yesterday than he did on Saturday, but he doesn't look close right now.

The Ducks lost again last night, falling 2-1 in Detroit. Anaheim has lost three straight and finished its road trip 1-4-0. One positive for the Ducks was that Ilya Bryzgalov was back from his groin injury net and played a solid game in goal. The Ducks had three rookies on the blue line last night.

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

Sharks game/Pronger injury

I wasn't really surprised with how the Sharks came out and played last night. I was surprised the they built a 4-1 lead in the first period, but I wasn't shocked at the end result of the game and who ended up with the two points.

It was just a difference in desperation level between the two teams. It was a complete reversal from the last time the two teams met. Thats when the Stars were coming off that 4-1 loss in Anaheim and the Sharks were still admiring themselves after having beaten the Ducks 4-3. That's the way it goes. 

The Stars get Monday to rest and they will be on a 4-2-0 run when they hit the Western Canada circuit starting Wednesday. They still have a chance to keep their recent momentum going by having a good trip in Canada. Take two of three and they are on a 6-3-0 run, which isn't bad they way things are shaping up in the conference right now. 

Another big injury loss for the Ducks. Chris Pronger suffered a broken foot in the Ducks' 4-3 loss in Minnesota last night. That's a huge loss not just because it is Pronger, but because they are already missing Francois Beauchemin, who is out until February with a lacerated spleen. I am guessing Pronger will be out until February as well, so there goes two top four defenseman on a team that relies heavily on its top four. Throw in the goaltending injuries and it's going to be quite a challenge for the Ducks. It will be interesting to see how they respond.

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