Alan Muir of SI.com takes a look at the Stars in a column today, and he thinks Stars coach Dave Tippett could be on the hot seat. Here's an excerpt of the full article, which can be found here:
It's to the eternal credit of Dallas GM Doug Armstrong that he stayed with Tippett to start this season. When many in the local media called for the coach's job after yet another first-round loss last spring, he stuck by his man, rewarding him for artfully guiding an injury-riddled roster to a miraculous 107-point campaign that should have earned Jack Adams consideration.
But armed with a full complement of players, this year's team appears to be no better off, lurching to a 5-4-2 start that suggests reaching the postseason will be a challenge.
And, if anything, the offensive shortcomings that sank the Stars' playoff hopes last season are even more glaring now.While the quality of the personnel assembled by Armstrong is an issue, so too is Tippett's defense-first style that dictates his charges rarely attack when they have the lead. Rather than display the courage needed to intensify their assault and salt away a victory, these Stars seem afraid to make a mistake that will cost them what they've achieved to that point. That tendency was painfully evident in Monday's 4-2 loss to the Sharks, a game in which the Stars held a 2-1 lead before coughing it up with three stunning defensive blunders in the final eight minutes.
That kind of hardline approach to the game has a limited shelf life (just ask Tippett's Cup-winning predecessor, Ken Hitchcock). And going by body language alone, it appears that dancing along a razor thin margin for error night after night is weighing on several players.
The Hanson brothers of Slap Shot fame are in town for tonight's game with the Blackhawks. To me they have always been the Carlson brothers and Dave Hanson of the Johnstown Jets. That's because when I was a teenager in Binghamton, New York back in the 70's I used to see the Carlson boys and Hanson play in the old North American Hockey League. Binghamton had a team in the league called the Broome Dusters, and three friends and I had season tickets right behind one of goals . So I got a chance to see those guys before they became movie stars and hockey icons.
I remember the movie being filmed too because some of the guys from the Dusters had bit parts and of course it was a big deal with Paul Newman being in it. If I remember correctly, one of the Dusters players doubled for Newman in a lot of the skating scenes. The Ogie Oglethorpe character was based on a guy who played a short time for the Dusters and the Syracuse team.
Anyway, the games in the NAHL weren't quite the like the movie, but they were close at times. One of the scenes in the movie - the fight right after the faceoff - was based on a game in Binghamton. The only bigger deal than the Jets coming to town that I can remember - and again this was before was the movie came out - was when the Dusters general manager's brother showed up for a playoff game back in 1975. The GM of the Dusters that year was a guy named Ron Orr. His brother, Bobby, played defense for the Boston Bruins and after the B's got bounced from the Stanley Cup playoffs, Bobby came down for a Dusters playoff game.
By the way, the Dusters lost to the Jets in the finals that year if I remember it right. That was a long time ago. A long time ago.
If you are getting the NHL Network these days (it went live on DirecTV today) this afternoon's Classic Series feature is on the 1991 Stanley Cup Final between the Minnesota North Stars and Pittsburgh Penguins. It's on at 4 pm Central.
The Blackhawks come to town on a three-game losing streak, but these games against teams like the Blackhawks are different than they used to be. First, they are fun to watch because of rookies like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. Both those guys are performing well and producing early in the season. Second, teams like Chicago, Columbus and St. Louis - who used to be considered the doormats of the Central Division - aren't letting people wipe their feet on them any more. One of those teams is probably going to make the playoffs. Maybe two of them. Time will tell. One or two of them could be competing with the Stars for playoff positioning or even a playoff spot towards the end of the season. That makes the game interesting from that perspective too.
Not much out of practice today. Lines were the same and so were the defensive pairings. Practice was short, but crisp. Tippett said if there are any lineup changes to come it would happen tomorrow. Steve Ott was particularly impressed with today's batch of Gatorade. Other than that, not much to report. I'll have a look at the sitting on the lead issue from last night's game in tonight's update on the front page. There was a pretty discussion about it after practice.
... about teams needing to play 60 minutes, or at least playing up to the 60-minute mark. The Stars didn't do that Monday night. They were OK until the last ten minutes or so. Actually, I thought they were pretty good up until that point and were in control of the game. Then along comes Joe Thornton and Devin Setoguchi and before you know it, it is a 3-2 game. Then less than 20 seconds later it is a 4-2 game. Yikes. Talk about a momentum change.
This Stars team is inconsistent right now. I said the other day I was waiting for them to put together a good stretch of games and I still am. I didn't really consider 4-1-2 over the last seven all that great of a stretch because I am not always going to look at just wins and losses. I am looking at how they play. Yeah, they beat Columbus but I thought they could have just as easily ended up with no points in that game. Chicago could have been no points instead of the one they got.
Right now they have one line that is clicking. Some of the defense corps is struggling and it is not the kid Matt Niskanen, who has been strong the past couple games. The goaltending, overall, has been good. There have been some rough spots here and there, but Turco, Smith and Stephan (in his one game) have done a good job and gotten the team some points.
As much talk as there is about chemistry and all that, it still comes down to players having to perform and at this point not enough of them are doing it on a consistent basis.
Overall, they are 5-4-2. That's a fair reflection of where they are right now 11 games into the season.
The NHL has some new ads that will run during tonight's Stars-Sharks game on Versus. You can read about them and see them here. I think they are OK, but you can judge for yourself.
If this play doesn't make Bob and Dan's Homer Call of the Week on The Ticket, well, there is something seriously wrong in the United States of America. It's a Division III game in Mississippi. It's a classic.
The NHL has suspended Randy Jones two games for the hit on Boston's Patrice Bergeron. I was watching the game the other afternoon when it happened. Although the end result was bad, I didn't think the penalty to Jones would be all that harsh. Two games is fair. Here's is the release from the league and video of the hit. (Note: First few seconds of the video are blank)
Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Randy Jones has been suspended for two games, without pay, as a result of being assessed a game misconduct during NHL game #146 against the Boston Bruins on Oct. 27, the National Hockey League announced today.
"While it is my determination that Jones did not intend to injure his opponent, he did deliver a hard check to a player who was in a vulnerable position," said NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell. "There have been suggestions by some that this hit was comparable to incidents earlier this season where players received significant game suspensions for blows to the head. These comparisons and suggestions are wrong," Campbell added.
Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Jones will forfeit $5,614.98. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
Jones was assessed a major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct for a hit on Boston player Patrice Bergeron at 16:07 of the first period.
Jones will miss Thursday's game at Montreal and the Nov. 2 game at Washington. He will be eligible to return Nov. 5 at NY Rangers.
There were plenty of positives to take out of Saturday's win in Phoenix. Mike Modano getting a couple of points and making an impact on the game was one. The Stars getting some offense on the road was another. The special teams on the road was yet another. I thought the Niklas Hagman shorthanded goal was the big play of the game. It was a huge momentum killer for the Coyotes. Stu Barnes deserves some credit for setting it up.
I thought Modano had a good game. He showed some some spurts of jump before he got the goal and that was a good sign. The top line of Morrow, Riberio and Lehtinen has just been dominant and was so again last night. I thought Matt Niskanen had one of his better games last night. Overall, lots of positives.
It will be interesting to see if the Stars can build on the positives with the games against San Jose and Chicago this week at the AAC. They've been very good at home this season, so I like their chances. On the other hand, I am still waiting for this team to put together a stretch of good performances. I don't think they have really done that. Some of that may be due to the fact that there schedule has been akward with a lot of days off between games at time and it may be hard to get into any kind of rhythm. They had a good one against the Ducks, a clunker against LA and a good one against Phoeix. A good showing against San Jose, which has some issues right now, night will make it three out of four and that will be a step in the right direction.
I usually find games against Coyotes kind of downers because I know there are eight of them in a season. Not tonight though. I have a great interest in this one. One reason I find this one interesting is because the Coyotes' leading scorer right now is a guy named Niko Kapanen, who has one goal and four assists in eight games. I get a kick out of referring to Kapanen, whom I have always liked, as the Coyotes' leading scorer.
The other reason this one is intriguing is Mike Modano getting bumped down the lineup. I don't have a problem with the move, but I am not going to read a lot into it either. It's easy to say he is on the fourth line, but he's not really a fourth line player unless he is playing fourth line minutes. If he logs 7:59 in the game then he has been demoted to a fourth line player. He's probably going to start the game with some players who play a simpler game. We'll see how it goes. If it works everyone can hail Dave Tippett as a genius and if it doesn't it can be lumped in the failed experiment category.
It's always adventure when this team hits the road for a game. If they don't score late in that game against Columbus, they could still be looking for their first road win. I am not sure what it is, but this is just a different team on the road. If they got off to a slow start Thursday night, I would throw out the rust argument. The start was good, but the middle of the game was kind of brutal. Marty Turco was great. He gave them a chance in this game. The goaltending has really helped them in a couple of these road games. Tobias Stephan got them a point in Chicago and Mike Smith came up big in Columbus and helped them get two there. Marty almost save their bacon in LA. You add up the offense in those three games though and those guys aren't getting a lot of support.
You aren't going to win a lot on the road - or anywhere else - when you score one goal. They've done just that in three of five road games. That's just reality. You can talk about chemistry, momentum and all that stuff, but at some point you've to execute offensively and put some pucks in the net. That's just reality. You aren't going to win a lot of road games scoring 1.60 per game, which is what they are doing through the first five.
I have no answer on the question mark that is Mike Modano. He is struggling. I thought he looked completely out of sync against the Kings. He didn't handle the puck well and didn't seem to have much jump. It's a good thing the Morrow-Ribeiro-Lehtinen line is clicking.
Anyway, this is just one game. We'll see how it goes in Phoenix. Let's be realistic. The Stars weren't going to own the Kings forever. Los Angeles is a dramatically improved club. They seem to be playing well as of late and Jason LaBarbera is giving them some good goaltending. By the way, the Coyotes beat the Ducks 1-0 in Anaheim Thursday night. Anaheim continues to struggle. I haven't seen Phoenix at all this season, so I can't really say much about them.
The Kings have a guy named Mike (Cammalleri) who is off a to great start this season. He has ten goals in ten games so far. Still, the Los Angeles times did a nice story on the Dallas Mike who is pursuing the U.S. points record. You can find that article here.
Speaking of Mike and that record, I noticed the Stars have dropped that "Pursuit of History" item off the Official Site. Maybe that is changed every now and then and I simply don't notice, Anyway, the top banner is now a Brenden Morrow theme. I guess that's what a little goal scoring run gets you.
NHL.com has an article up on Sergei Zubov and one of the issues raised within it, which you can read here, is whether the Stars defenseman is Hall of Fame worthy. Stars GM Doug Armstrong and Dave Tippett says yes and Zubov says no. Here is an excerpt from the article, which also has some quotes from Ken Hitchcock.
“If Lidstrom and Niedermayer are the benchmarks, then he’s right there,” Armstrong said. “If you mention Zubov’s name and the Hall of Fame, who says no? I would be shocked if you talk to many hockey people and ask; ‘Is he a Hall of Famer?’ if anyone says no.”
Zubov does.
“Either superstars or franchise players, those are the players that get into the Hall of Fame,” Zubov said. “I’m neither one of them.”
According to Stars coach Dave Tippett and Hitchcock, Zubov never has been a self-promoter, which likely is why he won’t budge off his no-way, not-me stance.
Tippett, though, politely begs to differ with his star defenseman.
“If you look at his accomplishments, they speak volumes about his contributions to his teams, and they’re winning contributions,” Tippett said. “That, and the other factor of his consistency, to me that all warrants (Hall of Fame) consideration.”
I agree with Tippett's assessment. Zubov's always been a big part of his team's success. He's put up excellent numbers, he's won two Cups and his defense has always been overlooked. I'd vote for him. But I am biased.
The Kings should have some confidence heading into Thursday's game with the Stars. They have won three of four, including a 6-0 win over Nashville Tuesday night at Staples Center. Mike Cammalleri scored two goals to push his league leading total to ten. On an interesting side note, etar Dan Ellis took over for Nashville starter Chris Mason about halfway through the game. Ellis played pretty well. Made some nice saves and ended up allowing two goals on 17 shots.
Nashville, which has been shutout in two straight and has lost six in a row, is not a very good team right now. Not very good at all. I saw the Kings beat Vancouver 4-2 Friday night and they look pretty good right now. That should make for a good game Thursday.
The Dallas Stars' little chat with Peter Forsberg generate a fair amount of media coverage, but a report out today doesn't list the Stars among the front runners for Foppa's services. That's not a big surprise. According to the Ottawa Sun the leaders are Colorado and Ottawa. The Stars aren't listed as being in the "have a shot" category either. I am not sure that is a shocker either.
While the Avs are considered the top contender because of Forsberg's history with the franchise -- he played with the Quebec Nordiques/Avalanche for 10 seasons early in his career -- the sources said Ottawa is held in high regard by the Swedish star, who has been skating with MoDo of the Swedish Elite League as he prepares for a return to the NHL.
It's believed the Detroit Red Wings, Vancouver Canucks and Philadelphia Flyers also have a shot.
A Sportsnet reporter did a pretty funny segment on the Sabres losing Daniel Briere and Chris Drury this offseason. The part at the end where he walks into the locker room and sums up the Sabres in a mathematical equation is classic. The only risk you run with something like this is that some people aren't going to get it and miss the point of his humor.
Well, I would say that was probably the Stars' best game of the season. That was pretty solid across the board and it came against a good team. It's hard to find anything to fault. The lines worked well, the defense pairings seemed fine and Marty was superb in net. It was nice to see Jere Lehtinen finally pot a goal. The special teams were good. Everything looks good when just about everything goes right and they win. That's what happened on this night.
There's another a break in the schedule here and then they hit the road for games against the Kings and Coyotes. The Stars haven't been all that good on the road so far this season, so we'll see how that goes.
Overall, they are trending up and that is a good sign.
If you haven't seen all the Stars TV commercials, here they are. Two versions of the pain commercial, two with Razor and the bras and one each of Morrow and Turco. To be honest, I hadn't seen all of them until now. Thanks to the Havoc Fanatics Web Site, which is where I saw the YouTube links.
Chicago's Jonathan Toews scored a highlight reel goal in the Blackhawks 5-3 win in Denver last night. Even the Avs announcers enjoyed this one. It was a beauty. The Chicago Daily-Herald opened its game story this way:
Even if Jonathan Toews goes on to score hundreds of goals for the Blackhawks before he is done playing, the 19-year-old center might never produce another prettier than the one he got Friday night.
Toews' goal seven minutes into the first period was nothing short of spectacular, lifting most of the 13,519 on hand at the United Center out of their seats and helping send the Hawks on their way to what turned out to be a dramatic 5-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche.
Tuomo Ruutu's goal with 1:25 to play snapped a 3-3 tie, but it Toews' effort that had everyone buzzing.
"We haven't seen a goal like that around here in a long time," Hawks coach Denis Savard said. "It was one for the highlight tape. It was the goal of the week probably -- the goal of the year."
The defending champs come with a 4-4-1 record, but they appear to be trending up. They have won a couple straight, including two in a row over Detroit and Nashville. They only team to slow them down recently has been the machine known as Minnesota. The Ducks are getting healthier with J-S Giguere and Samuel Pahlsson returning during their recent homestand. Todd Marchant is close to returning (perhaps tonight) and Mathieu Schneider, who has been out with a broken ankle since the middle of September, should be skating by the end of next week.
It's a good early measuring stick game for both teams and perhaps a chance to start establishing some momentum within the division, where the picture is still murky.
Game of the night in the West might be Minnesota (5-0-1) at St. Louis (4-1-0).
Well, it was two points. It could have been no points or one point. It was like the Chicago game or even the Calgary game. That's just way it is with the Stars right now. They could be 5-2-0 or 2-5-0, but they are 3-2-2 and that's an accurate reflection of what they are right now. I think it is too early to worry about the standings. But that said, if you stretch that record out out over 82 games it's 94 points or so. That's fighting for a playoff spot. That's the kind of team they look to me right now, but it's early and a lot of teams look like that.
That's why this next stretch of games against divisional foes will be telling. Over the next 14 games - which will take them to just over the quarter mark of the season - they have three each against the Ducks, Sharks, Kings and Coyotes. They also have one each against Chicago and Colorado. That will get them to 21 games and we'll have a pretty good idea of where they sit in the division and overall as they head east for a big road trip.
Back to last night. Maybe that win will help get the Stars on a little roll. Time will tell. It was a win they needed, especially from a confidence standpoint. But if I am Columbus I am not feeling as if I got beat by a better team. If I am a Blue Jacket I am thinking I can play with these guys. Ditto for Chicago. At least right now.
Mike Modano chuckled at the suggestion, but he wouldn't take the bait.
On the verge of breaking the NHL record for points by an American-born player, Modano was asked if he might have crossed Phil Housley's threshold a few seasons ago if it weren't for a certain defensive-minded coach who reined him in during the Dallas Stars' heydays in the 1990s.
"I've got nothing but good things to say about Ken Hitchcock," Modano said. "We won a Stanley Cup down here."
I found this little tidbit from NHL.com interesting. The Stars are no longer seen as a perennial contender, but a mere perennial qualifier. This is the opening from NHL.com's latest Pacific Division Notebook:
The Pacific Division is home to two Stanley Cup contenders in Anaheim and San Jose. Another division foe, the Dallas Stars, are a perennial playoff qualifier.
Now, in a parity driven league being a qualifier isn't a bad thing. First and foremost is to get into the playoffs, where, as the cliché goes, anything can happen.
Anyway, I just found the perennial qualifier label interesting.
Stars goalie Marty Turco was back on the ice for practice today and looks like he is ready to go.
"He would be an option tomorrow if we wanted him," coach Dave Tippett said after practice.
The Stars will make a decision on whether to send Tobias Stephan back to Iowa tomorrow. He is expected to travel with the team to Columbus this afternoon. Iowa is playing in Cleveland the next two games so it's a short trip when Stephan gets sent back to the AHL.
The line combinations were the same as yesterday's practice, except that Ulf Dahlen took Jere Lehtinen's place on a line with Nik Hagman and Mike Modano. Lehtinen took a puck to the mouth just before practice and needed to get some stitches.
Here are a few tidbits from practice, which was a long one. They were on the ice, went off for meeting while the ice was resurfaced and then were back on. Some hard skating at the end.
Mike Smith practiced today. He is ready to go.
Marty Turco didn't practice. He is expected to be on the ice Tuesday. Tippett said he wouldn't rule out Turco being ready for Wednesday.
Everybody else was out there.
Lines were juggled around again. Hagman was with Modano and Lehtinen. Eriksson moved onto a line with Ribeiro and Morrow. Miettinen was back on a line with Halpern and Lundqvist. Jokinen played with Barnes and Winchester. I am not sure I'd read too much into it. We'll see how they line up tomorrow.
I think this comment from the Chicago Blackhawks' broadcast sums up tonight's game: "Without that kid (Tobias Stephan) this game wouldn't have been close."
I am not sure what you can say about this one. It was a disappointing loss. A squandered point. I know there will be a lot of focus on the Brenden Morrow blunder at the end and it was a major boo-boo that led to the game-winning goal. But there was a lot of other stuff that went on before that. The blown power play chances, including that long five-on three. The official scoresheet had the Stars 1-4 on the PP, but I think they had six. The numbers aren't really that important. They had a chance to make some hay with the five-on-three and then a chance to extend the lead in the third. They misfired twice and on the one in the third Matthew Lombardi scored right after it expired and it was 2-2.
There was that goal late in the first by Jarome Iginla, which came right after the Stars had an offensive zone draw. Flames get the puck, go up and score and it is tied 1-1. That kind of stuff hurts too. But that Morrow to Philippe Boucher pass was just a killer. Felt bad for Morrow. I give him credit too. He said he screwed up. Didn't make any excuses. Didn't blame anything or anyone else. Just said it all rested on his shoulders.
There were some positives. Niklas Hagman continues to roll. I think Mike Modano is coming around too. He's had a little more jump to his game the past couple nights.
By the way, I love watching Lombardi play just because of his speed.
I am looking forward to tomorrow night's game against the Blackhawks. I wouldn't normally say that, but they have some outstanding young players like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane and some good veterans in the mix. The Bulin Wall is playing well. No Martin Havlat though. Should be a fun one to watch.
The NHL dropped the hammer on Philadephia's Jesse Boulerice, giving him a 25-game suspension for the cross-check to the face of Vancouver's Ryan Kessler.
“This was more than a careless and reckless play – it was senseless,” said NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell. “This was a deliberate cross-check to the face where Jesse Boulerice broke the shaft of his stick on Ryan Kesler’s jaw. Boulerice went out of his way to deliver the cross-check and we will not tolerate this kind of conduct”.
The Stars have assigned Niklas Grossman, Vojtech Polak and Aaron Gagnon to Iowa. All three were activated from injured reserve today.
Grossman is basically going down to get some work. Stars coach Dave Tippett said this afternoon if Grossman was healthy he would need some work "whether it is here or in Iowa." They've opted for Iowa, where that team has games on Friday and Saturday.
Scott Burnside of ESPN ranks the 30 NHL coaches in a column this week. No surprise that Anaheim's Randy Carlyle is No. 1. He won the Stanley Cup last season. Coming in at No. 30 is Mike Keenan. Burnside said "Iron Mike" has to not destroy the Flames to move up the list. Stars coach Dave Tippett? He comes in at No. 17. Burnside writes:
If you just considered Tippett's regular-season record, he'd be a top-10 coach every year. Unfortunately, the Stars' recent history of bowing out in the first round of the playoffs is what fans remember most about Tippett's teams in Dallas.
I guess some people will be taking their hands off the panic button temporarily. It's just one game, but there was a lot to like about this one. I thought Marty Turco was the best player in the game. I know everyone gets giddy when the Stars score more than two in a game, but Turco was outstanding. Big saves at key times.
Mike Ribeiro makes a huge difference for his team. That was a good line with Ribeiro, Niklas Hagman and Brenden Morrow. Hagman was outstanding. He's getting good minutes (more than 20 Wednesday) and is producing. And he does it for a whopping cap hit of $675,000.
I thought all the lines seemed to work pretty well. The Jokinen-Modano-Lehtinen trio has history. I don't like seeing the usual checking trio broken up, but I think Antti Miettinen fit pretty well on the line with Joel Lundqvist and Jeff Halpern. It was nice to see Miettinen pot a goal. That was a heck of a shot. That trio produced two goals. We'll see how things go moving forward.
The defensive pairings were different. Everything seemed fine there too. But, again, it is just one game. The Flames should be a good test on Friday. I still haven't had a chance to see much of them. After that the Stars play four of five on the road. That will be a better test because this team hasn't had any success way from home yet. But that is down the road. Flames are next. That should be a good one.
The Stars have activated center Mike Ribeiro from injured reserve and placed Mike Smith on IR with a bruised arm. Smith is going to miss a minimum of three games. I didn't see yesterday's injury because I was in the locker room when it happened. The official explanation is he was accidentally slashed by Jeff Halpern and then the two got in a verbal altercation. I am sure some of you have read various stuff on message boards from a few fans who were watching practice and saw what happened. I got an email from someone last night who saw it. I didn't, so I am not going to say much other than I hope Smith isn't out long-term.
Not sure who is getting the nod in goal for the Kings tonight. Both the LA Times and LA Daily News said coach Marc Crawford wasn't tipping his hand. Rich Hammond, who writes the Inside the Kings blog for the LA Daily News, said "circumstantial evidence" from Tuesday's points towards the kid, Jonathan Bernier. Crawford is also taking about making a couple changes to his lineup too. He wasn't saying what those were either.
Here are few tidbits from Tuesday's practice. Mike Smith got hurt towards the end of practice. Actually it was when some of the players had already come off the ice. He's day-to-day with a bruised arm and will be re-evaluated after Wednesday morning's skate according to a news release from the Stars. Tobias Stephan recalled on an emergency basis.
A decision on Mike Ribeiro's status will probably be made Wednesday. He looks good to go, and it appears he should come off IR. Niklas Grossman appears to be a couple days away, so even if Ribeiro is activated the Stars won't have to make a roster move since Nolan Baumgartner has already gone down. They'd just carry the 15 forwards and six defensemen for now and then make a decision later.
I want to start by apologizing. You wrote Stars fans and local media a letter back in July, and I have been remiss in not answering. Cowboys season has been front of mind, and y'all seemed so convinced that what you wrote was truth, not spin doctoring, that waiting seemed like a prudent course.
No longer.
Rumblings already have begun in the Stars locker room that what plagued this team last season has not been fixed. So I've highlighted some of your more cogent points about your fans and your team and responded as necessary:
There have been a lot of things written and said over the last two weeks, many of which have painted a negative perception of the Dallas Stars as a hockey club and where we are headed in the future. We've been called everything from 'stupid' to 'asleep at the wheel' to 'out of touch,' simply because we did not make a big splash in the free agent market.
I'm here to tell you that these beliefs, columns, opinions and statements couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, it's downright unfair. Contrary to what some have written or said, we haven't gone stupid overnight and we do have a plan in place.
What was written was y'all didn't do anything.
This is a fact. You didn't. You did not sign a scoring wing despite losing. People in your organization have tried spinning this as an unnecessary extravagance since a) Defense and goaltending is the calling card of this team, and; b) Good goaltending is why the Stars could not score in their first-round loss in Vancouver.
Of course, I had a fan ask me what happens if they face a team with a good goaltender again. And I'm not sure we have a good answer for that question.
Anyway, she goes on to pick apart his letter bit by bit. I am not sure I get this kind of rant three games into the season. I think the actual reason for the tardy response from Engel was she was waiting for something to go wrong and then pounce. Here we are at 1-2-0, one point behind division leading San Jose at 1-1-1 and it's time to hit the panic button.
It's worth a read whether you are ready to hit the panic button or not.
I have some concerns, but let's see how they do against the Kings, Flames and Blackhawks here in the next few days.
Nothing ever changes. What a game between the Cowboys and Bills and a roller coaster of emotions watching that one. The end result took me back to the the 1990's. The Stanley Cup Final and the two Super Bowls. Same old story for the folks in Buffalo. Disappointment.
Here are a few tidbits from Monday's practice: Mike Ribeiro looks close to returning. He could be ready to go on Wednesday. Time will tell. He practiced on a line with Brenden Morrow and Niklas Hagman. Jussi Jokinen was back on a line with Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen. Nolan Baumgartner was not at practice. He was sent down to Iowa.
Things weren't very pretty for the Iowa Stars last night either. They lost 7-1 in San Antonio. I watched a little bit last night. Could have been worse. Philippe Sauve was under siege in goal. Here's a brief recap from the Des Moines Register.
It is way too early to hit the panic button, but the Stars don't look very good three games into the season. Yeah they played three games in four nights, but it's a little early to start laying on the excuses. If you want the injury count, it's six-man games lost so far. I just don't think they are playing well. I don't think it is all line combinations, or whether Chris Conner is here or in Iowa or whether Antti Miettinen should be on the top line or whether Loui Eriksson is a scratch or not. The strengths of this team haven't been strong suits early on. So far the whole group looks out of sync.
Reason to be concerned? A little in my book. More if I were in Stars management. You want to nip something like this quickly. No team needs a slow start to the season. You aren't going to win anything in October, but you can put yourself in a position to lose a lot if you get too far behind the eight ball. We'll see how they look against the Kings on Wednesday. That's a team they beat eight times last season.
Speaking of those eight wins against LA, the Stars picked up 30 of 32 points against LA and Phoenix last season. I wonder if they'll be able to pull that off again.
The Iowa Stars open the season tonight in San Antonio. I was going to use a Chris Conner returns to Texas headline, but I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up. Anyway, the game will be played at the same time as the Stars game. It's at 7pm. It's broadcast online via the AHL website, the Iowa Stars official site or you can go to the B2 Networks site and sign up to watch the games live. It's $6.00 per game or $160.00 to sign up to watch a team for the season. I haven't seen one yet this season, so I don't know how the video quality is. It was so-so last season. I may have it running on my laptop tonight and check in during breaks in the Dallas/Nashville game.
The big line for the Predators in their season opening 4-0 win over Colorado was the trio of J.P. Dumont, Jason Arnott and Vernon Fiddler. They accounted for three goals the other night. Arnott had two goals and an assist in that one.
A couple of quotes from Predators coach Barry Trotz on the Stars.
“Thursday was a difficult task because Colorado had a lot of offensive weapons. The task against Dallas will be a little different because they rely on tight-checking, defensive system. It will be a different challenge.”
“Another new challenge too is facing a guy like Marty Turco or Smith, whoever plays, because they are very good at moving the puck and making things happen. If we dump pucks in it will have to be with a lot of purpose. You have to be very deliberate in how you are going to get through the Dallas checking.”
Well, that was a pretty good effort by the Stars. I thought Marty Turco was solid and it was good to see Sergei Zubov have a pretty good game as well. Nice to see Lundqvist, Halpern and Barnes reunited. The Finn line was very good. Matt Niskanen had another good game. He made two very nice plays to help set up those first two goals. Overall, they were better from start to finish.
The Bruins have a long ways to go. Manny Fernandez did not have a good night. It was a less than stellar debut in the Boston uniform for the etar. I have a feeling it could be a long year in Boston. The Bruins are a young team.
Anyway, it's on to Nashville tomorrow night. It should be a good early season test for both teams. The Predators looked pretty good in beating Colorado 4-0 the other night. I know a lot of people - I am included in this group - expect them to drop off because of the talent drain, but they are still going to be a competitive team and should be in the hunt for a playoff spot. They still have some good players, are well-coached and a good goalie in Chris Mason.
And there is probably still some lingering bitterness over last season, so that will add to the overall flavor of the game.
Brenden Morrow is fine. He got a few teeth rearranged. He practiced today with no shield.
Mike Ribeiro wore the red cross jersey and went through a full practice. He looked very good out there. Tippett was encouraged with his progress.
Niklas Grossman is still out. Matt Niskanen's NHL debut got a positive review from Dave Tippett. For his part, Niskanen said he was a little shaky early in the game but thought he played well.
Line combos in practice were the same as last night's game, at least based on practice jersey colors and the drills I saw.
I got an email from Rob Scichili of the Stars outlining FSN's plans for HD broadcasts this season. Here it is, so take note.
The Stars will have 10 games broadcast in HD on Fox Sports Net this season, beginning with Friday's home opener:
Oct. 5 vs. Boston
Oct. 31 vs. Chicago
Dec. 5 vs. San Jose
Dec. 7 vs. Ottawa
Dec. 29 vs. St. Louis
Jan. 2 at Detroit
Jan. 7 vs. Minnesota
Feb. 5 vs. Vancouver
Feb. 28 vs. Chicago
March 19 vs. Anaheim
This looked like the past two season openers. The big difference? They didn't finish off the comeback. They got off to a slow start, fell way behind and rallied. The last two years they were able to tie and eventually finish ahead. This time they didn't. There's a fine line between winning and losing and they ended up on the wrong end of it this time. The last two years everyone was kind of giddy after the opener and this year the reaction isn't quite the same for many.
As always, I will start making judgments at about the quarter mark of the season. That said, I can still make some judgments on last night. The Stars made some turnovers that killed them. Not a great game for Marty Turco. I thought he was sharp early, made some great saves and then he let in a couple he might like to have back. Sergei Zubov had a rough night, ending up minus-four. Those are a couple of your top players and what is that saying about your best players having to be your best players.
Mike Modano and Joe Sakic were both quiet, but the Avs had their second line step up. We all know about what a good player Andrew Brunette is and what a great young talent Paul Stastny is, but that Jaroslav Hlinka, a free agent signing out of Europe, was quite a find for the Avs. He is a skilled player who plays both ends of the ice. He's no kid either. He'll turn 31 next month.
I hardly noticed the fourth line.
As for Matt Niskanen, I thought he played a pretty good game in his NHL debut.
Anyway, it's one game. Bring on the Bruins Friday.
Stastny's third goal was the NHL's Play of the Night.
I don't know how many of you got this via e-mail from the Stars, but I thought was pretty cool. It's a pitch to sell tickets by an e-brochure featuring Ralph and Razor. I am not much on sales pitches, but I sort of liked this one. Here's the link:
... forget it. He has signed a six-year, $45 million extension with the Senators. That's $7.5 million per season for one of the best goal scorers in the league. That's a pretty good deal for the Senators. According to TSN's Darren Dreger, the big money comes early in the deal, making the overall cap hit more palatable.
For those of you have followed Matt Nickerson from his Texas Tornado days and in the Dallas Stars system, he is moving on. The Stars released him from his contract today. Nickerson is going to play in Finland.
Here is the press release from the Stars:
Dallas Stars General Manager Doug Armstrong announced today that the club has released Matt Nickerson from the remainder of his entry-level contract, which was set to expire at the end of this season. Nickerson split the 2006-07 season between the Iowa Stars of the American Hockey League and the ECHL Idaho Steelheads, Dallas’ two development affiliates.
Nickerson, 22, was Dallas’ third-round selection (No. 99 overall) in the 2003 Entry Draft after two seasons with the Texas Tornado in the North American Hockey League (2001-03).
The native of New London, Connecticut, played one season apiece at Clarkson University (2003-04), Victoriaville in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (2004-05) and Assat Pori in the Finnish Elite League (2005-06).
The Rocky Mountain News has a piece on the Avs' desire to get off to a good start. It contains a few other game notes. I'm still waiting for a team to say it is looking to get off to a slow start and rally late in the season.
Niklas Grossman won't be ready to go for Wednesday, so it looks like Matt Niskanen is in the lineup. Niskanen is pretty excited. He expects a lot of the folks back home in Minnesota to be tuned in to Versus tomorrow night. Mike Ribeiro skated for about a half hour this morning and it went fine according to Dave Tippett. Everyone else is ready to go. Razor is doing the color analysis on Versus tomorrow night.
The NHL Network is supposed to be popping up in the USA this month. It may have already started in some places. There's a good article in the Sports Business Journal that outlines what is going with the various cable and satellite carriers.
I know there is a lot of disappointment among some fans that Chris Conner got sent down to Iowa. I've said it before and I'll say it again: the opening night roster is not that big a deal. It's not like that roster is set in stone and will never change. A lot can happen during the course of a season. Conner hasn't been sent to Siberia.
Dave Tippett praised Conner after practice today, said he opened a lot of eyes with his play and said the assignment to Iowa is not the end of the road:
Tippett: "Just because he is not on our team the first day doesn't mean he's not going to be on our team at some point. Part of that is just the reality of the business."
Chris Conner has been assigned to Iowa. Mike Ribeiro, Niklas Grossman, Aaron Gagnon, Vojtech Polak and Francis Wathier have all been placed on injured reserve.
Another item to throw into the roster intrigue on the defensive side of things: Nolan Baumgartner is among the players to hit the waiver wire today. We'll just have to wait and see what shakes out.
Everybody was on the ice except for Mike Ribeiro, who is going to start the season on IR with the ankle injury.
Ribeiro said he expects to start skating tomorrow to see how his ankle feels and Dave Tippett speculated that Ribeiro is probably a week or so away. That might be optimistic, but we'll see.
Niklas Grossman (shoulder) practiced, but his status for Wednesday is still up in the air. If he can't go he may start the on IR and Matt Niskanen would start the season in Dallas.
Ribeiro and Grossman would both go on IR retroactive to the time of their injuries, so they could come off when they are ready.
tar Dan Ellis took over for Nashville starter Chris Mason about halfway through the game. Ellis played pretty well. Made some nice saves and ended up allowing two goals on 17 shots.