A step in the right direction
The league's change to the scheduling format is a step in the right direction. Is it ideal? No, probably not. But you can't please everybody all at once. Change takes some compromise and it takes time. This new schedule isn't the way it will be from here to eternity. That's why I see it as moving forward and not the end of the road as far as scheduling.
The league has moved to where the Stars will play fewer games against the division and every team in the East at least once next season. That's progress. The NHLPA is now talking about adding two games onto the season - by dropping some preseason games - to make sure that every team plays in every other building in the league at least once during the season. I guess we'll see where that goes down the road. I could live without a few preseason games.
The current scheduling format just didn't work. Too many games against division foes and not many against the other conference just led to staleness. The idea of building rivalries through divisional play just wasn't going to work. Those rivalries will be built through the playoffs. That's where the emotions and intensity are the highest.
30 November '07 - - default| - § ¶
More on the schedule change
Here's the official word on the new schedule from NHL.com:
The National Hockey League’s Board of Governors today approved a scheduling matrix which ensures that each Club will play every other Club a minimum of once per season. The format will go into effect for the 2008-2009 season.
Each Club will play the teams in its division three times at home and three times on the road, for a total of 24 games. Each Club will continue to play 40 games inside its conference but outside its division (10 opponents) twice at home and twice on the road. That brings the in-conference total to 64 games and maintains the integrity of a Conference-based playoff system.
The remaining 18 games in the 82-game schedule will involve each Club playing each Club in the other conference at least once, home or away, with the three remaining games being devoted to interconference “at-large” scheduling.
The format represents a change from the matrix approved by the Board for the 2005-06 campaign. That format called for four games (40 total) against each non-division conference opponent, eight games (32 total) against each in-division opponent and 10 inter-conference games – one game at home against each of the five clubs from a designated division and one game on the road against all five clubs from a different division.
29 November '07 - - default| - § ¶
TSN: NHL approves new schedule format
TSN is reporting that the league has approved a new scheduling format that will be as follows:
Each team play 24 divisional games, 40 in-conference matchups, 15 games against non-conference teams and three wild card games against out of conference teams.
Here's the full
TSN report.
29 November '07 - - default| - § ¶
The Lundqvist twins
NHL.com has a feature article up on Joel and Henrik Lundqvist. Here's how it opens:
There was a time when Joel Lundqvist had bragging rights in the family, but it seems so long ago.
At the 2000 NHL Entry Draft in Calgary, Joel was selected by the Dallas Stars in the third round, 68th overall – or, four rounds and 137 picks ahead of his identical twin brother, New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist.
Can we all agree now that their career paths have gone in separate directions?
Henrik is a Hart and Vezina Trophy candidate this season after being a Vezina finalist for the previous two seasons.
Joel, meanwhile, still is searching for the magical glue that will make him stick in Dallas rather than being shuttled back and forth to Iowa of the AHL.
Henrik has earned the nickname “King Henrik” in New York. Fans chant his name on a nightly basis at Madison Square Garden. He backstopped Sweden to Olympic gold in 2006, and was voted one of People magazine’s World’s 100 most beautiful people.
Joel, the identical twin who did not make People’s list, is an anonymous checking-line forward with five NHL goals on his resume.
You can
read the rest of it here.
29 November '07 - - default| - § ¶
Odds & Ends
All good things eventually end and that was the case with the Stars' winning streak last night. New Jersey was the better team over the course of 60 minutes. The Stars caught a break in the first when Martin Brodeur let in a couple of soft goals and that was all he ended up giving them. There is a fine line between winning and not winning every night. The Stars have been on the winning side the last little while and last night they couldn't get there.
It will be interesting to see how they do in the back-to-back Friday and Saturday. Pittsburgh, which hasn't played since last Saturday, will be very well rested on Friday and and Philly will have had a couple of days between games on Saturday. Those aren't excuses in waiting, but just the realities of the scheduling.
Speaking of the scheduling, the schedule format will be a hot topic at the NHL Board of Governors meeting, which gets underway today in Pebble Beach. It is going to change. The question is how much. What is apparently in the works is something like this:
6 games against each team in the division (24 total)
4 against each of the remaining conference (40 total)
1 each against the other conference (15 total)
3 remaining wild card games, possibly against the other conference.
29 November '07 - - default| - § ¶
Lehtinen will have surgery
Stars forward Jere Lehtinen will have surgery after all. He is probably looking at a recovery time of eight to ten weeks.
27 November '07 - - default| - § ¶
Another two points
I don't what you can say about the Stars other than they are simply finding ways to win games right now. If it is not one way, it is another. Tonight they won it with an aggressive push at the start of overtime. I thought they started that push right after the Islanders scored to tie the game with power play goal and it carried over to OT. That says something about the resiliency of the Stars right now. Thats the sign of a confident, winning team.
There's a lot of talk about ugly wins, but if you are going to go far, especially in the playoffs, you are going to need some ugly wins. There is nothing wrong with them. When you play a low scoring, good defensive team like the Islanders there is a good chance it is going to be a little ugly. You are going to need the kind of bounce Jeff Halpern got on his goal. Of course, you have to cash in and Halpern did.
I think you take away the slow start and the Stars were pretty good after that. Still, it took that lucky bounce to get them the goal that made it 2-1. They could have been down 2-1 if it wasn't for that great stop by Marty Turco on Chris Simon. I know a lot of people will dwell on Turco's mistake on the Richard Park shorthanded goal, but Turco was very good early in that game and that save on Simon was huge.
Mike Modano was great again. Can't say enough about how he has been playing lately. Simply outstanding.
I am not getting too caught up in the standings thing. I think it's impressive that they are two points out of first in the conference. At the same time I find it interesting that the ninth and tenth place teams are only five points behind them and both have two games in hand. That's how little separation they've been able to create with six straight wins and points in ten of eleven. That's a sign of just how tight this could be all season long. That's why I am not too worried about style points. Two points are two points any way you can get them.
26 November '07 - - default| - § ¶
NHL honors Smith
The NHL has honored Stars goalie Mike Smith as the league's Three Stars Of The Week. Daniel Briere and Ilya Bryzgalov were the other two.
Smith posted a 3-0-0 record, 1.00 goals-against average, .963 save percentage and one shutout as the Stars (12-7-4, 28 points) moved into first place in the Pacific Division. He made 22 saves and recorded his fourth career shutout as the Stars defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-0 Nov. 19, stopped 17 of 18 shots in a 2-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks Nov. 21 and made a season-high 39 saves as Dallas defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 Nov. 25. Smith has posted a 6-3-0 record, 2.19 goals-against average, .916 save percentage and one shutout in nine appearances this season.
Link
26 November '07 - - default| - § ¶
It wasn't pretty....
... but it was two points. Nothing wrong with that. Hey, things seem to fall that way sometimes for the hottest team in the NHL. That's what the Stars are right now. They have five straight wins and have the best record of any team over the last ten games with 16 points.
On Sunday afternoon the Stars got some excellent goaltending from Mike Smith and their special teams were superb again and it added up to two points to kick off this big road trip. That's five wins in a row and seven in the last ten. This team is on a nice little roll. I am not going to read too much into the sluggish start against the Rangers. We'll see how it goes against the Islanders on Monday and beyond on this trip.
Overall, this team is finding ways to win. All of it seems to coincide with the management shakeup. You can read what you want into it, but I think the Stars are playing better because they are executing better. Sunday afternoon excluded, they have been limiting scoring chances and playing a better defensive game. The goaltending has been solid. The special teams play has been superb. They've been moving the puck well.
Not sure how Doug Armstrong was screwing any of that up from his office upstairs in Frisco or in his perch upstairs at the arena. That said, I won't deny that his dismissal brought a breath of fresh air through the organization that has obviously filtered down to the dressing room and has carried over onto the ice. Whether some players feel liberated in a sense or some feel they are playing for jobs, the bottom line is they are playing better. That's the difference between now and two weeks ago.
Take away that 6-1 offensive orgy over Colorado and the rest of them have been pretty typical Stars wins if you ask me. All of them built on a solid defensive, checking base and topped off with solid goaltending, good special teams play and timely goal scoring. Nothing out of the ordinary, just getting back to what they do well.
25 November '07 - - default| - § ¶
Winchester and Lundqvist recalled
The Stars have recalled Brad Winchester and Joel Lundqvist from Iowa. Here's the release.
The Dallas Stars announced today that the club has recalled left wing Brad Winchester and center Joel Lundqvist from the Iowa Stars, Dallas’ primary development affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL). Both players will join the club for Sunday’s game at the New York Rangers.
Winchester, 26, suffered an abdominal strain in Dallas’ game with Phoenix on Nov. 2 and missed the following eight games due to the injury. In 10 games with Dallas this season, he has collected one assist and 22 penalty minutes. In his one game with Iowa on conditioning assignment, he went scoreless with two penalty minutes on Nov. 23 at Grand Rapids.
Signed by Dallas as a free agent on July 6, 2007, Winchester has skated in 88 career NHL games, posting four goals and seven assists for 11 points with 129 penalty minutes. He also appeared in 10 Stanley Cup Playoff games for Edmonton during their run to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, recording a goal and two assists.
Originally drafted by Edmonton in the second round (No. 35 overall) of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, Winchester appeared in 59 games for the Oilers in 2006-07 and posted four goals and five assists for nine points with 86 penalty minutes. The native of Madison, Wis., played four seasons at the University of Wisconsin from 1999-2003, collecting 84 points (40 goals, 44 assists) and 224 penalty minutes in 150 games for the Badgers. The 6-5, 228-pound left wing spent two seasons in the United States Development Program (1997-99), skating for the U.S. National Under-18 Team, and then appeared for Team USA at the 2000 World Junior Championships in Sweden.
Lundqvist, 25, has recorded two goals and two assists for four points in 11 games with Dallas this season, and in eight outings with Iowa in 2007-08, has registered six points (two goals, four assists). The 6-1, 194-pound center was Dallas’ third round selection (No. 68 overall) in the 2000 Entry Draft.
A native of Are, Sweden, Lundqvist skated in 36 games with Dallas in 2006-07 and posted six points (three goals, three assists) and 14 penalty minutes. He also netted two goals in seven Stanley Cup Playoff games with the Stars last season.
Joel and his identical twin brother, Henrik, became just the third set of twins to face off against one another in NHL history last season (Dec. 14, 2006) and could meet again as the Stars battle the New York Rangers on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
24 November '07 - - default| - § ¶
Good win
Good win over the Leafs. Slow start, but they got better as the game went along. Good effort from Marty tonight in goal. I thought Mike Ribeiro was outstanding. Nice to see Antti pot a goal. Overall this team is playing very well defensively, getting some timely goal scoring, solid goaltending and it all adding up to W's. I am look forward to seeing how they do on this road trip. There are some quality opponents and thank God, some different ones. It was nice to see Toronto and now some other Eastern teams. All those Pacific Division tilts were getting old.
We'll see what comes out of the Jere Lehtinen situation. What a screwed up informational mess that was. I guess someone jumped the gun on the surgery thing, but he still has an abdominal strain, which could keep him out for a while. How long is to be determined.
24 November '07 - - default| - § ¶
Lehtinen status is unclear
The status on Jere Lehtinen is unclear. During the game the word was that he would sports hernia surgery on Monday and would be out indefinitely. They are backing off that a bit. Coach Dave Tippett called it an "abdominal strain" after the game and said the report of surgery on Monday was "premature." Basically Lehtinen will be re-evaluated.
"We're going to continue to look at it the next couple days, do some tests and see where it goes," Tippett said.
Time will tell.
23 November '07 - - default| - § ¶
Turco tonight
It looks like Marty Turco is going to get the start tonight against the Maple Leafs.
23 November '07 - - default| - § ¶
Modano Night, Ducks game
Can't say much more than that was a pretty good night all the way around. Stars did a nice job with the ceremony honoring Mike Modano and the Stars topped it off with a win. Modano coming up with a big goal made it even a better night. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there.
22 November '07 - - default| - § ¶
Holiday sale is on early
It looks like the day after Thanksgivivng sale is on a day early as far as Todd Fedoruk. The Stars have put him on re-entry waivers. Any team can now take Fedoruk and the Stars will pay half his salary the rest of the way. He's got about $640,000 left on his salary, so the Stars would pay $320,000 and the other team would pay $320,000. This time he'll be on waivers 24 hours, so we find out sometime tomorrow.
21 November '07 - - default| - § ¶
A couple of things about the Ducks
Since I would really like to sleep in tomorrow and do nothing most of the day, I'll throw out a couple of Ducks notes tonight. Todd Bertuzzi could be back in the lineup tomorrow. He's going to be a game day decision. He's been out five weeks with the concussion but he's been cleared to play. He'll skate in the morning and the Ducks will go from there. Mathieu Schneider, who has been bothered with a hip injury, is expected to go. If both Bertuzzi and Schneider play then the Ducks will have a healthy line up for the first time this season I believe. Ducks are 4-0-1 since that 5-0 loss to the Stars on November 5.
Oh yeah, it's Mike Modano tribute night. Since I can embed NHL videos on the blog, here's the points record breaker.
